Hey There
by KittyCrow12
Summary: Just when Lucy thought that her atrocious love life couldn't get any worse, she goes on a blind date with a serial killer. Just as she watches her life flash before for her eyes, a man in all black wipes the concrete with her attacker. As she collects her wits, her savior finally greets her with a nonchalant "Hey there..." Doesn't he realize that this might not be appropriate?
1. Hey There

**So I'm re-editing and reposting the earlier chapters in this story so that I can have a consistent update schedule. For those who have stuck with me thus far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! This fiction will be updated on the first and fifteenth of every month (depending on how far I can get ahead, I might bump up to weekly updates, but bimonthly is going to be the case until then). Thank you for choosing to read my story and I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I seriously don't own anything. If I did, then my ships would be having babies and I'd die of happiness in my trashy shipping heaven... Please carry on...**

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Hey There... Ch. 1

"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot," Lucy nervously chuckled as she slowly backed away from him. She had met up with the guy on a blind date and he had been progressively acting more and more strangely as the night progressed.

"No," the man stated as he licked his lips. "I believe that this is definitely where we were supposed to be going on this date."

"Um, well I think that we're going to have to agree to disagree..." Lucy trailed off as she felt her mouth go dry. Why had she listened to her matchmaking-crazed friend about blind dates on Craig's List? Lucy vowed right there that she would never EVER do this again. She tried not to panic as her back hit the wall of the building. Every muscle in her body was screaming for her to run, to lash out, to do something, but Lucy couldn't seem to get her brain to tell her body that she heartily agreed with these urges.

"You're going to look so nice up on my wall," the man said as he started laughing maniacally. "You are probably the prettiest so far," he smugly stated and Lucy saw the man draw out a pocket knife. At this, Lucy squeezed her eyes shut as she started praying fervently for anyone to help at this point. She couldn't sneakily dial 911 because her phone was in her front pocket and it would tip him off as to what she was doing. She thought about screaming, but she quickly reasoned that that wouldn't help in this current situation.

Her breath caught in her throat as he caged her against the wall. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and realized that he must have pre-gamed before their "date." She barely contained a whimper as the man started gliding the knife over her skin.

"You know your skin is too flawless right?" He said in a rush as the knife quickened its pace across her pale skin. "Most women would kill to have beautiful creamy skin like yours. Mind if I taste to see if you taste as good as you look?" He didn't wait for a reply as his tongue traced the delicate vessels in her neck. She had to bite back the sick feeling in her stomach to keep herself from throwing up. She didn't dare give him any satisfaction from her reactions.

"Maybe we should kick this up a notch. I want to hear you scream," the man grinned wickedly as he nicked her shoulder. As blood started to seep out of the wound he made three more small nicks in her skin and pulled away slightly to admire his work.

"I knew you would look good in red," the man said with almost childlike glee as he continued his ministrations until he felt satisfied with his work. He was about to say something more when he noticed that she hadn't once made a sound, hadn't flinched once even after cutting her and when he looked into her eyes, he saw a burning hatred that at first delighted him, but then angered him because he figured all his "works of art" seemed to enjoy the process.

"Darling, why don't you say something? Don't you love the way this feels?" He questioned as he started running the knife over her skin again.

"As a matter of fact I don't. I can't possibly understand how sick your mind must be if you think I enjoy this," Lucy spat at him as she tried give her best death glare. She could tell by his shocked expression that he hadn't even fathomed that she wouldn't like this and it made her build up her courage to continue. "If you know what's good for you, I suggest you leave me alone." At this, the man cocked his head to the side in interest.

"And why on earth would I stop this?"

"Because," Lucy said as her voice grew louder, "I have some friends that would be pretty pissed at what you are doing to me now."

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Natsu paused his late night patrol as he heard an angry woman speak. He perched on a roof overlooking an alleyway to see said woman pushed up forcefully against the side of a building by some guy holding a knife. As he picked up more of the conversation, he realized pretty quickly that he needed to intervene. _Might as well make a grand entrance_ he thought to himself with a wry smirk.

"Good evening sir and madam," Natsu said as he hopped down off the roof and landed with a soft thud. "It seems that the lady isn't having a very good time of it sir. I suggest you stop now."

"Hey! This catch is mine!" The man with the knife screeched childishly. "Go get your own woman. I found her fair and square!"

Natsu tsked and shook his head mournfully. "I'm sorry sir but you're going to have to let the lady go if she doesn't want to be with you. You should know that's the common courtesy on dates. I guess you'll have to chalk this date up to a failure. Miss, if you would come with me...?"

"She's not going anywhere!" The attacker snarled as he sunk the small blade into the woman's flesh again; this time nearly to the bone in her thigh. Natsu heard the woman suck in a sharp breath and briefly flicked her eyes over to him in panic.

"Sir, I'm going to ask you nicely one more time to step away from this woman. If you refuse I feel that I must warn you that you might not like the consequences," Natsu tried calmly one last time. He really didn't want to leave behind a trail if he didn't have to.

"There's no way in Hell I'm going to give her up so you can just-"

The man's reply was cut off by a right hook to the face, sending him sprawling away from the frightened woman and further into the alley. Natsu straightened his jacket and felt his eyes burn as he squared off with his opponent. He popped his neck and rolled his shoulders to relieve some of the overwhelming tension building up in his body.

"You are disrupting my work!" The would-be attacker screeched as he held his jaw and pointed the knife at Natsu. "Because of your insolence, you will die!" With that outburst, the man hurled himself at Natsu swinging his small knife around wildly.

Natsu almost smirked as he caught the man's wrist with his left hand and forced his head down with a swift kick. As the man's body bounced slightly off the pavement, Natsu shifted his body just slightly and caught the defenseless man in the stomach with another kick that sent him flying into the alley wall. Painful sounds were registered in Natsu's ears as the man hit the wall and then slumped to the ground.

Lucy watched the man in all black, including a black hood, quickly deal with her would-be attacker with fear and awe. She was frozen in place; her body working against her mind, against any movement save for scarce breathing. Lucy even thought that her heart skipped a beat or five as her eyes tried to keep up with the lightning-fast movements of the man currently saving her. It was like watching some predatory beast gracefully taking down a kill, leaving her completely breathless. She felt torn between wanting to stay and continue to watch this predator continue his hunt, and feeling her mind scream at her to run far, far away.

"Hey there..." Lucy's savior said as he turned away from her unconscious attacker to face her. Lucy, despite knowing full well of the danger, started laughing hysterically at the ridiculous greeting; she was completely unable to do anything else.

"You wiped the concrete with some would-be serial killer and that's how you greet me?" She cried as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Thank you for your help. I think if it's not too much trouble, I'm gonna go now."

"You're laughing at me?" The man asked incredulously as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Actually," the man said as he rubbed the back of his... hood... and his body posture changed from a strong stance to a slightly less sure one. "You're going to have to come with me... I can't leave you here now that you've seen me." At this Lucy's spine stiffened. She was just freed from an attacker, she didn't want to be slave to another one.

"Eh?!" Lucy exclaimed. "What do you mean I have to come with you? I just wanna go home and forget that this night never happened! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"It's not that you've done anything wrong, it's just that your life is now in danger because you saw me. I just wanna make sure that I didn't save your life to just have it snuffed out soon afterwards..." the man trailed off.

"You've gotta be kidding me! Are you some type of spy or something? There's no way I-" Lucy cut off as she finally started feeling the effects of her blood loss, collapsing in an ungracious heap next to the alley wall.

"At the very least, you need some medical attention. I don't think you're going to get anywhere by yourself in the shape you're currently in," the man said wryly as he walked over and crouched by her. "I'm going to make sure your wounds have stopped bleeding before I move you, okay? Oh, this gash looks pretty deep, I'm going to have to bandage it. Do you have any spare cloth?" Lucy shook her head, slowly feeling the pain wash over her now that her adrenaline ebbed away.

"Dammit. Guess I don't have much of a choice then," the man muttered. He quickly straightened up and removed his jacket and hood.

"P-pink?!" Lucy exclaimed as she eyed the man's hair. She watched as light pink spikes defied gravity atop his head, which made her wonder how his hood didn't seem lumpy from all of the hair. As her eyes travelled down his face, she made note of slanted eyes that looked the color of obsidian in the lack of light with thick, long eyelashes that a camel would envy, and lips that were pressed into a thin line as he frowned at her. She also saw that he had high cheekbones and dark skin that hinted of eastern ancestry and a strong jaw line that practically begged to be touched.

"Hello? Chick, you kinda zoned out on me. I thought that you had passed out for a second," the man said as he looked slightly relieved before his face settled back into a frown. "My hair is salmon, for future reference. A man saves your life and all you can think to do is laugh at me and then comment on my hair color. You certainly are a weirdo."

"What?" Lucy almost shrieked in outrage as she started to sit up but winced and sat back against the wall. "You've gotta be kidding me. First you come in, dropping off a freaking roof for goodness sake! And beat that guy," she pointed at the would-be attacker, "to a pulp in less than a minute. Now you're saying that since I've seen you, I don't even know you, have to 'come with' you to Mavis knows where and expect me to do so willingly with no questions asked. Oh hell no!"

"Sorry, that's just the policy," the man said as he chuckled lowly. Lucy took a moment to admire the baritone tone of his voice before she realized what she was doing and quickly shook her head to get rid of her thoughts. "Look, I'm sorry how this turned out, I really am, but I'm going to have to take you with me; at the very least, you need medical attention. By the way, what's your name? I don't wanna have to keep callin' ya 'chick' or 'girl' for the duration of this trip."

Lucy puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and glowered at him. After she was satisfied that he got the message, she released a sigh and ran a hand through her silky blonde hair.

"My name is Lucy. Do I have the pleasure of learning your name?" Her question came out slightly sarcastically. At her attempt to unnerve the man, he chuckled again and broke into a grin that showed off his pearly white... Fangs? This guy had fangs?! Who the hell filed their canines down into legitimate fangs?

"Nice 'ta meet'cha Luigi! My name's Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."


	2. Over the Rooftops and Through the Night

**As promised, here's chappie number two! I forgot to mention that some of the characters might seem a little OOC in this ff. The reason is that this is an AU and these guys are also older than their manga/anime counterparts.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything... Pretty sure I don't own the plot either; I'm almost positive there's been a story like this somewhere.**

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Hey There... Ch. 2

"My name's Lucy you idiot!" Lucy hissed.

"Sorry Lucy," Natsu replied sheepishly. "I'm kinda terrible with names. But anyways, I'm gonna take ya to Fairy Tail now."

At this Lucy raised another skeptical eyebrow. "Ok, so a total hoss with pink hair is taking me to a fairy tale? Did that serial killer actually kill me, or did he slip me something that's highly illegal?"

At this, Natsu pouted. _What grown man pouts?! ...He did look kind of adorable though..._ Lucy shook her head again. _What was with my thoughts today?_

"Two problems with your question: one, I'm not taking you to a 'fairy tale,' I'm taking you to Fairy Tail; two, my hair is salmon. SALMON. Not some girly color like 'pink.' I do appreciate you calling me a hoss though; that almost redeems your faux pas about Fairy Tail and my awesome hair. Almost."

"Whatever. But seriously, when am I waking up from this dream? I'm even trying to pinch myself and it's not working." As if to prove a point, Lucy had two angry red marks on her arm that looked like they were going to bruise.

"Luigi, this is reality. I'm going to take you to Fairy Tail now before you try any other weird stuff. Can you stand?"

Any comment Lucy would have made was promptly thrust from her mind as Natsu quickly yanked Lucy off the ground to test her remaining strength and balance. Lucy failed that test miserably as her legs wobbled and collapsed immediately. she was barely saved from hitting the pavement again by Natsu catching her arms.

"I'm going to take that as a no..." Natsu trailed off as he frowned again. Lucy didn't even try to lie because clearly, she wasn't in the best shape at the moment. After a minute or two of Natsu's silence, he wordlessly and gracelessly threw Lucy over a well-muscled shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes.

"Natsu!" Lucy gasped painfully as she tried to clutch at her wounds. "I'm injured! You seriously can't do that."

"Sorry Luigi."

"It's Lucy. Woah, wait! Hold on a sec-" Lucy cut off as Natsu jumped back towards the roof, latched on the edge with one hand, and vaulted effortlessly on top of the roof. The pinkette glanced to either side before taking off in the direction Lucy assumed where this "Fairy Tail" was located.

"So what is Fairy Tail anyways?" Lucy asked to try to keep her mind off her pain and the uncomfortable churning in her gut from sailing over rooftops.

"I'm not sure if that question is safe to answer right now. We don't know who might be listening," Natsu murmured as he stopped on the edge of a rooftop, glancing around once again.

"What do you mean by who-" Lucy was interrupted again as Natsu shushed her. Just as Lucy was about to protest, she noticed that the shadows of buildings were moving.

Natsu cursed lowly as he spotted black cloaked figures emerge from the shadows. He could hear Lucy's heart rate spike and he could feel his eyes burn from his powers itching to be used. The pinkette surveyed the slowly increasing crowd as he gently set Lucy down.

"Stay here," Natsu said softly as he got in a fighting stance. "I don't think this will end pretty."

"Where the hell am I supposed to go?" Lucy snorted as she crossed her arms. "Jump off the roof? No way!"

Before Natsu could give a reply, the first three of the cloaked guys rushed him. He knew that they were testing his reflexes at first because he recognized the small insignia on the bottom right side of their black helmets: Phantom Lord. He purposefully barely dodged the middle guy while catching the guy on his right with a left hook to the jaw and followed through with a right kick for a guy on his left. When the first guy that was now behind him went at him again, the pinkette reached behind himself to throw the first guy over his shoulder into the fourth guy, effectively bowling him over.

Seeing that four men wasn't going to be enough, eight more decided to join the party and Natsu had to stop pulling his punches. _Damn_ , he thought to himself as a punch grazed his rib cage. _I might have to actually use my powers_. As Natsu sped up his attack pattern, four more cloaked members armed with brass knuckles decided that it was time to make an appearance. _Is this really necessary?_ Natsu thought to himself as he tried his best to avoid the barbed knuckles and sighed inwardly as he saw one coming straight for his face with no time to move out of the way completely.

The attacker chuckled a bit as he watched Natsu catch his fist with his bare hand and smirked until he felt his hand heat up at an alarming and painful rate. While the man yelped in pain as he jumped back throwing off his super-heated, smoking brass knuckle, the pinkette decided that he was done playing subtly. He ignited his fists in molten orange flame and put them up defensively.

"I'm getting fired up now," Natsu smirked as the flames danced along his fists and reflected in his eyes.

Lucy gasped in horror and amazement as she watched Natsu's fists spontaneously combust. She heard similar gasps of astonishment and colorful curses from among the cloaked figures until she heard one clear voice shakily breath out, "It's the Salamander. We've gotta retreat." The cloaked figures then quickly disengaged and darted back to the shadows and into the night from whence they came.

"Damn, that hurt," Natsu chuckled wryly as he turned around to face Lucy, inspecting the hand that caught the brass knuckles.

"You idiot!" Lucy screeched as she tried to push the fear out of her body. "Of course catching brass knuckles with your bare hands is going to hurt! What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I didn't want brass knuckles in my face," Natsu deadpanned as he crouched in front of Lucy. "I'm going to pick you up again. We're going to need to move quickly before those guys come back with reinforcements."

"We weren't moving quickly before?" Lucy asked in disbelief as she glanced at the pinkette's injured hand; it didn't look to great from where she was sitting.

"No, I thought it was a good idea to move a little slower since you're injured, but we're not going to have that luxury now."

Lucy was once again unceremoniously thrown onto Natsu's shoulder and much to her dismay, set into swift motion once more. She could feel the wind whipping up her dress and decided that this was officially the most bizarre, embarrassing night of her life.

"You have to slow down!" Lucy plead as she attempted to no avail to keep the skirt of her dress down.

"Why? We're not out of danger yet," Natsu asked in confusion.

"I'm having a wardrobe malfunction!" Lucy squealed in embarrassment and she felt her cheeks burn.

"Luigi, I-"

"It's Lucy!"

"I'm sorry, _Lucy_ ," the pinkette emphasized sarcastically as he jumped a long distance between rooftops that Lucy thought for sure was physically impossible. "We can't slow down for any 'wardrobe malfunctions' or otherwise. You're just going to have to sit tight until we get to Fairy Tail." Lucy puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and let out an exasperated breath.

"Fine, how close are we?"

"Just a few more blocks or so!" Natsu said cheerily as he readjusted Lucy against him in mid-flight.

"W-what?"

"Relax! It should be about five minutes tops. You talk a lot; you know that Lucy?"

At this Lucy rolled her eyes and decided that she had a small victory in him saying her name correctly. The last few minutes of their rooftop escapade were silent as Natsu leapt from building to building until he reached the building he was looking for. The multiple story building looked like a run-down bar with a hotel stacked on top. As he approached the dark stained wooden double doors of the entrance, he carefully set Lucy down so she could "readjust" herself from her time in transit.

"Is this it?" Lucy asked as she lifted an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Yep! Welcome to Fairy Tail!" Natsu said as he gave a ridiculously wide grin. Natsu was about to open the door for them when Lucy suddenly felt light-headed and weak and her vision started to blur around the edges. As she hit the pavement, she could barely registered Natsu's low curse. The last thing she saw before her world went went black was Natsu's arms reaching towards her, trying to pick her back up.

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 **Thank you so much, guest, cat, and KitAlbert07 for your reviews! I hope to see everybody for the next update! :D**


	3. To Fairy Tail Guild We Go

**And we're back! I just wanted to thank everybody for reading my story and giving me reviews and follows! It makes me so happy to know that people care enough about my story to give me feedback and I'm honored to have the support! Feel free to PM me about anything (including not story-related stuff…). I've stalled for long enough, let's get this story rolling!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything… *sniff* But if I did…**

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Hey There… Ch. 3

Lucy couldn't help but notice the mumbling that was going on around her, but she didn't understand why her eyes wouldn't open on command.

"… IDIOT! … her… jumpin' around… She's injured!"

At this, Lucy groaned in frustration. It was as if that groan brought back all her memories of the night because they just streamed in without any remorse. She tried opening her eyes, but the light was too bright and she re-shut them tightly.

"Guess she's awake now," a deep voice murmured.

"I knew she wouldn't be down for long!" a voice she instantly recognized as Natsu's cheerily added.

Lucy tried once more to open her eyes and this time, it was a success. In the dingy white room, were three figures, one of which was Natsu.

"It's good to see that you're awake," a gorgeous red head told Lucy as she turned to face the bedridden female. "My name is Erza Scarlet and I guess you could say that Natsu reports to me sometimes. This here is Gray, one of Natsu's best friends…"

Lucy thought that Erza was joking about the Gray and Natsu thing because they were having a glaring contest behind Erza's back, but quickly changed their facial expressions and embraced each other when Erza turned around to face them. _How odd_. Lucy thought that she would need to observe this relationship further.

"Are you feeling any better?" a meek voice asked Lucy and it brought her out of her previous thoughts. She couldn't see the face attached to the voice, so Lucy concluded that she was either behind the people directly before her, or she was hearing things… which actually wouldn't be the first time…

"Wendy, it's okay for you to come up and see her. She just woke up and I don't think even Natsu is incompetent enough to bring in an enemy to our guild," Erza curtly replied, fixing Natsu with a look that kept him from speaking in his defense. The younger girl who pushed herself in between Natsu and Gray was absolutely adorable in Lucy's opinion. Her long dark blue hair was drawn up into two high tails with bright yellow ribbon that complemented her hair nicely.

"It's nice to meet you Wendy! My name is Lucy."

"It's very nice to meet you," Wendy stammered and her cheeks tinted a cute pink.

"She's the one who tended to your injuries while you were asleep," Erza replied with a hint of pride while patting Wendy affectionately on the head.

"Eh?!" Lucy exclaimed as she bolted up in bed. "How long have I been out and why was a kid taking care of my injuries? Also," Lucy broke off to point at Natsu, "How the hell were you able to make your fists spontaneously combust?" At this question, all eyes were transfixed to a very sheepish Natsu.

"Yeah, Flame Brain," Gray punched the pinkette's arm, "why did your fists 'spontaneously combust'? Mavis! Can you do anything right?"

"I can do quite a few things right Ice Princess! For instance, I saved Lucy from an attacker and I defended us both from Phantom Lord," Natsu sniffed. At the name Phantom Lord, Erza, Gray, and Wendy stiffened.

"Why didn't you tell me about this run in with Phantom Lord?" Erza shouted as she promptly knocked Natsu out. Lucy sweat dropped and glanced around as neither of the other people in the room seemed too concerned by this development.

"Who's Phantom Lord? Also, where am I right now? Mavis, I have so many questions I want answered right now…" Lucy sighed as she sat back in bed.

"To answer some of your questions, Phantom Lord is a current business rival of sorts. You were out for maybe 15 to 30 minutes. I guess since Natsu already spilled the beans about magic, we can tell you that Wendy uses healing and support magic and that's why we let her take care of you. We are currently-"

"Is the woman Natsu brought in awake?" a sweet, melodious voice asked. The room turned to the doorway to see a stunningly beautiful white haired woman.

"Mira?!" Lucy gasped in shock and horror. At this outburst, the occupants of the room, sans Lucy, looked in a mixture of confusion and shock between Mira and the blonde.

"Lucy!" Mira exclaimed as she rushed to Lucy's side. "I heard that Natsu brought a woman to Fairy Tail, but I never imagined that it would be you! How did you two meet?" Mirajane asked with her match-making face slowly rising into place.

"It was actually thanks to you epic fail of a set up with that guy on _Craig's List_. Turns out the guy I went out with was a serial killer," Lucy deadpanned.

"Oh! And then Natsu saved you and brought you here. How romantic!" Mira squealed with hearts in her eyes and everybody else in the room sweat dropped.

"You went out with a guy from _Craig's List_?" Gray asked wryly, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, well… I wasn't having much luck using other channels, and Mira told me that it was a good idea... Wait, why are we even discussing this?" Lucy muttered as her cheeks flamed in embarrassment.

"I do agree with Lucy on this one. We should be more concerned about the Phantom Lord attack. They seem to be getting bolder in their advances," Erza said, immediately bringing everyone back to focus.

"I'll go tell master about the most recent attack. Please take care of Lucy," Mira said quickly and hurried out of the room. Erza sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Master will not be pleased about this. We're going to have to be more careful with our missions from now on. Well, it was nice to meet you Lucy. I will certainly see you later." With that last comment, Erza left the room.

"I just remembered that I had a lot of more important things to do than share air space with this flaming moron. See ya later Lucy," Gray quickly stated and sauntered out of the room. Natsu could barely contain his scowl as he watched Gray leave, making Lucy giggle.

"So are you guys like a gang or something? Is that why Fairy Tail and this Phantom Lord are 'business rivals'? You better be pulling my leg about this whole magic thing. I'm having a hard time believing that."

"Nah," Natsu replied with a snort of amusement. "We're not a gang; we're just an underground group of people who perform jobs for the underground society-"

"Natsu, that definitely sounds illegal."

"of mages," Natsu finished with a frown on his face. "The reason why we don't go a more public route is because the general public would freak out if they knew magic actually existed. I mean, take you for example: you thought I was pretty awesome fending off those guys with plain hand-to-hand combat, but the moment I lit my fists up, you freaked out. Obviously, normal people don't have my awesome skills of setting themselves on fire, therefore anything that isn't considered 'normal' will freak people out. We don't want to have to worry about the general population trying to make us go away or persecute us."

"I guess that makes sense," Lucy replied. "How long has Fairy Tail been around?"

"Honestly, I don't know. You heard of the 'Salem Witch Trails' right? I believe it was sometime during that period when the magical folk decided for secret societies that completely excluded the masses to avoid getting themselves killed…" Natsu trailed off.

"That long? Wow, that's incredible that magic has remained a myth to the general public for so long."

"Well anyways, I'm going to go check on the latest news in the guild. If Wendy clears you for food, do you want me to get you some?" Natsu asked as he started walking towards the door.

"That would be great!" Lucy exclaimed. "Wendy, do you think that I could eat some food? I am a little hungry."

"Sure!" Wendy said as she finally spoke up after watching everyone else talk for so long. With Wendy's answer, Natsu exited the room.

"So how old are you exactly Wendy?" Lucy asked as she turned toward the young bluenette. The girl blushed again and squeaked out that she was only 16.

"16? That's amazing how you already know so much about your magic. How did you get roped into all this?" Lucy asked as she tried to make Wendy feel more comfortable. She was beginning to wonder if Wendy just got flustered easily. As Wendy was about to open her mouth, another small girl with short sky blue hair accessorized with an orange bandana rushed into the room.

"I just heard about the girl who Natsu carried into the infirmary. Is this her Wendy?" the light bluenette asked. Wendy simply nodded and the stranger walked to the side on Lucy's bed.

"My name is Levy. What's yours?"

"Lucy."

"Well it's nice to meet you Lucy! I was told that Natsu carried you in. What happened?" Lucy proceeded to tell the girl of all the events of the evening that led up to where she was currently, leaving Levy slightly impressed.

"Wow," Levy breathed as she stared at Lucy in awe. "I've been around magic almost my whole life, but when I saw Natsu burst into flames for the first time, I nearly jumped out of my skin! You're so brave for not getting up and running away! I also can't believe you trusted him enough to let him bring you here."

"Yeah, well I think that my judgement was impaired from my blood loss," Lucy wryly commented and watched as Wendy left. "Does Wendy always act like this?"

"Pretty much around people she doesn't know. Well, Wendy's just a shy person general," Levy laughed.

Lucy and Levy talked more for what seemed like hours and the more they chatted, the more Lucy found she liked the girl. They had similar tastes in books, loved education, and when Lucy hinted at being a bit of a freelance author, Levy's eyes lit up with excitement and begged Lucy to be the first reader of her novel. They were about to discuss music when Natsu barged into the infirmary with a plate of food and a glass of water.

"Hey Luce! I'm back with some food. I got a little distracted but-" Natsu stopped talking when he realized that Levy was also in the room. "Oh hey Levy! I knew that your curiosity would have you come find Lucy eventually."

"You already gave Lucy a nickname?" Levy asked as she looked at Lucy expectantly. "Well I guess Mira's predictions might not be that far off after all."

"What?!" Lucy shrieked as she bolted up in bed again. "What is Mira saying about me now?"

"Oh nothing!" Levy chirped with glee as she watched her new found friend blush furiously and squirm to get out of bed.

"It's definitely not nothing when Mira is involved!" Lucy shouted as she wrestled free of the covers and started chasing Levy around the room. "Tell me what she said right now!

* * *

As Lucy was trying to get answers from Levy, Natsu couldn't help but laugh at their antics and watched them with amusement. For just being introduced to each other, they looked like they got along very well. _Lucy is such a weirdo_ Natsu thought as he set the food down on the bedside table and sat on Lucy's bed to stay out of their way. _I think I made the right decision when I brought her here._

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 **Sorry if this chappie was kinda boring… I needed to introduce a lot of people and I didn't want to bring in any more fighting just yet. I also wanted to start setting up the LeLu BrOTP.**

 **I want to know honestly, how many people thought that it was Mira who orchestrated Lucy's date disaster? I feel like I should try to hint at some foreshadowing to get some feedback from you guys. Please feel free to send me reviews or PMs! I'd love to hear from you.**

 **Just wanted to give a personal shout out to Mezatron, samiraahmed12, An Amber Pen, Dragondancer81, R3al-chan, and the guest for all of your lovely reviews! Thank you so SO much for your words! They keep me inspired and I love hearing what people think about the happenings in the story! :D**

 **Well that's all for now folks! See you on guys on the next installment. Buh-bye! :D**


	4. And so It Begins!

**So how's everyone doing this fine Saturday? We just got a new kitten today and she's a fuzzy ball of cuteness... But enough about me, I know the reason why you came here; it wasn't so you could read my ramblings (but if you did, you're awesome and I truly appreciate it! :D). So let's get on with another chappie of Hey There!**

 **Disclaimer: I own two cats! … Not much else though… My older one says "hi" btw; she played with the keyboard and added 6 extra pages of random characters and spaces…**

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Hey There… Ch. 4

"So are ya ready to go meet Fairy Tail Lucy?" Natsu asked, ready to leave the infirmary. At his question, Lucy stopped her interrogation and realized that she had many more pressing questions that needed to be answered first.

"Yeah," Lucy quickly replied and let go of Levy's arm. She then quietly followed Natsu and Levy out of the infirmary and into the main hall. Lucy didn't know what to expect from an underground mage community, but she definitely didn't expect this; the guild hall was currently engulfed in a guild-wide brawl. It didn't take long for Natsu to find Gray and get lost in the crowd.

"Is this normal?" Lucy hesitantly asked. At Lucy's mystified expression, Levy giggled.

"Pretty much. It's especially bad between Gray and Natsu. They usually go head-to-head at least once a day." At this, Lucy sweat dropped. _At LEAST once a day?! These people are crazy!_ At the edge of the fray, Lucy spotted Erza sitting at the bar enjoying a piece of strawberry cake, seemingly oblivious to the ongoing war behind her.

"Shouldn't we let Erza know that she's a little too close?" Lucy asked hesitantly. As Levy was about to answer, Gray was thrown across the hall and into Erza's cake.

"Gray," Erza said in an icy tone that chilled Lucy to the bone. "While I appreciate you testing your skills against our friends, you made a dire mistake when you decided to land on my favorite piece of cake that I had been saving for three hours. This blunder might cost you your life." With this, Gray paled and attempted to scramble out of the way of Erza's wrath, but failed miserably. The redhead caught the black haired male by the belt of his pants (he had somehow lost his shirt in the battle) and proceeded to unleash her fury upon the fighting guild members using Gray as a weapon in one hand and a wicked looking sword in the other. _When did that sword get there?!_ Lucy's thoughts screamed as she watched absolute chaos ensue.

The fighting lasted for a few more seconds before sounds of large doors slammed open and a gust of wind swept about the room.

"How many times have I told you brats to stop fighting in my guild hall?" a loud voice boomed over the cacophony of the brawl. Everyone paused and looked up to a towering individual on the second floor balcony. "Do you know how many complaints I've received from the magic council in the past 48 hours alone? What do you expect me to do about your rowdiness? Not to mention I'm getting yet another report of Phantom Lord activity. What do you have to say for yourselves?"

The guild hall was completely silent for once. The members looked uncomfortable under their master's gaze. After a long moment, the master sighed and shrunk down to a measly three feet.

"Ah, what am I saying? Screw the council! Fairy Tail has done things their own way for hundreds of years, we're not going to change now!"

Shouts of agreement rang throughout the guild hall and Lucy couldn't help but smile at the morale of this group. The guild master then held up his right arm in a fist, turning the back of his hand away from himself and sticking out the index finger and thumb. The crowd reciprocated the gesture with a unanimous shout, "For Fairy Tail!"

"Alright you brats, carry on with your business quietly. I don't want to have to pay for repairs this week and I have more important meetings that I need to see to." The master huffed and walked away from the balcony.

"How did your guild master change his size so easily? Was that some kind of magic?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, that's Gramps' form of magic: the titan. He's crazy strong even for an old geezer. You definitely don't wanna mess with him." Natsu grinned.

"Natsu, I want you to bring Lucy and follow me," Mirajane said as she suddenly appeared next to the pair.

"We going to Gramps now?"

"Yes, he told me that he wanted to speak with you two personally to assess what you saw for himself. He needs to determine if there needs to be any precautions for jobs from now on."

"Gotcha. Well come on Lucy! Time's a wastin'!" Natsu said brightly and strode off in the direction Lucy assumed was towards the guild master's office. They ended up walking up a flight of stairs to the first room available on the second floor. As they walked in, Lucy noticed that the master's office was fairly neat except for a pile of magazines in the corner that looked suspiciously like "adult" prose.

"Thank you for bringing her in Natsu!" the elder man grinned as he looked up from the large stack of papers on his desk. "Oh, I forgot!" the guild master then retrieved a lighter out of his desk, grabbed up the pile, and promptly lit it on fire.

"Yes!" Natsu shouted gleefully as he grabbed the burning papers with his _bare hands_ and shoved them into his mouth like it was some type of candy.

"Eh?!" Lucy squeaked as her eyes nearly flew out of her head. The guild master chuckled a bit at this exchange and propped his head on one of his fists.

"From what Mira told me, you know that Natsu uses fire magic. He considers his element a delicacy and this will save on dumpster space." The old man shrugged. "Alright, it's time to get down to business. Please tell me about your encounter with Phantom Lord." At this, Natsu became very serious.

"A few minutes after I had started returning to Fairy Tail with Lucy in tow, I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. I set her down and almost immediately afterwards, I engaged with some masked members of Phantom. I could tell they were grunts and I could easily take 12 of them without breaking a sweat. It was the last four with brass knuckles that made me have to break out my powers. I just superheated my fists as a warning and they realized who I was and retreated; no doubt to call for reinforcements. I tried to keep it low-key just in case there were any innocents nearby. I highly suggest that we at least travel in pairs from now on. I was clear of their territory the entire time and they attacked me first. They're really starting to piss me off Gramps." The master was quiet throughout Natsu's report, taking it all in.

"Your idea about the partners is very good. I'm definitely going to implement it. I know that most of our members can handle themselves out there, but this is more for keeping our magic on the down low for the moment. Plus it'll be easier to fend off surprise attacks if there is someone watching your back. I'm concerned that Phantom is going to try to start to 'merge' businesses with us very soon. I want to make sure that all my children remain safe throughout the transition." The master then paused and looked at Lucy.

"Miss, I'm very sorry that you happened to fall into this squabble between guilds at this moment. I'm afraid that I cannot allow you in good faith to leave here without someone escorting you. I know that you are not one of us, but you were seen with one of our own and in turn, that paints a target on your back. Do you have any pressing matters that will need to be attended to immediately?"

"Well, I live in a one bedroom apartment alone, except for my dog, Plue. I write columns for the 'Weekly' magazine and I can do that remotely if I need to. I'm just going to have to get my dog and clothes." At this the master nodded.

"Very well, after I'm finished talking with you, I'll send you and Natsu to go fetch your things. We'll put you up in one of our rooms above. Natsu, you may leave now. Make sure you tell Mira to inform the guild about our new policy." Natsu nodded and then quietly exited the building.

"Is there a reason why you wanted to speak to me alone?" Lucy asked, growing slightly concerned. The elder man sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"My name is Makarov Dreyar by the way. Please don't call me 'sir'; just call me Gramps or Makarov. I always feel older than I am when I hear the term 'sir' pointed at me. I just have a couple of questions I wanted to ask you without an audience," the master replied smoothly, clasping his hands in front of him on the desk.

"I hope this goes without saying, but you won't publish any of what you witnessed tonight right? I'm afraid that we must remain a secret to the world as we know it today."

"Don't worry about it," Lucy said with a small smile. "I won't tell a soul."

"Good! I'm glad I won't have to erase your memory!" Makarov said with a serious face that caused Lucy to shift her feet uncomfortably.

"How much did you see of Natsu's fighting?" At this question, Lucy was shocked. She didn't know what questions to expect, but this certainly wasn't one of them.

"Um, well… When he saved me from my attacker, Natsu didn't use any magic at all. I just thought he was some type of super combat savvy vigilante badass or something and even when he told me about taking me to 'Fairy Tail,' I had no idea what he was talking about. He didn't even use magic fighting off 12 guys and is was as he said; I didn't see any magic until he briefly ignited his fists as a warning. Well, one of the guys that attacked him with brass knuckles was about to punch his face and I guess Natsu used some of his magic to heat up the guy's knuckle, because it was smoking as the guy threw it off. That was all the magic he used." Makarov breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he finished talking, which made Lucy raise a concerned eyebrow. "Am I missing something?"

"No, not at all! I'm just impressed that Natsu reined in his desire to set everything on fire. I guess you could say that he's something of a pyromaniac." At this Lucy sweat dropped. Makarov chuckled and his lips pulled into a small grin. "That's just Natsu's personality! I wouldn't be concerned if I were you." They both shared a comfortable moment of silence before the older man shifted in his chair.

"Have you noticed anything strange lately?" the guild master asked as he stared seriously at Lucy. Lucy snorted in response and smiled.

"Other than a whole secret underground society of magical folk that the general public have no idea about? No, I can't think of anything." Makarov chuckled again and shook his head.

"Ok, well if you notice anything that concerns you, please feel free to come talk to me at any time." Lucy nodded and smiled in response. She didn't know why, but she felt like she had known the guild master for a very long time and could actually come to him with problems for guidance.

"Well if that's all, I'm going to go find Natsu to take me to my apartment for some clothes. It was nice talking to you Mr. Makarov."

"You may leave now. I hope that you will remain safe on your outing!" The master cheerily replied and bade Lucy a polite farewell as she left his office.

As soon as his office door shut, Makarov turned around in his chair and closed his eyes. _I don't know what I felt just now, but if that young woman has magic, she either doesn't know it or she's hiding it very well. Something tells me that I'm going to have to keep an eye on her…_

* * *

Lucy found Natsu rather easily; he was sitting at the bar that Mira was currently working eating something that was definitely on fire. As Lucy sat beside him, Natsu turned to face her with a smug grin on his face.

"So you think I'm a vigilante badass huh?"

"You heard that?!" Lucy yelped as she felt her entire face heat up from her blush.

"Yep!"

"Oh how cute!" Mira squealed as she walked over to their side of the bar. "I know that you two will-"

"Mira! Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Lucy commanded. Natsu was impressed that Mira didn't retaliate and simply responded with a pout.

"I just thought it was such a great coincidence that he saved you…" the last of Mira's comments were lost under her breath as she turned to tend to another customer.

"So, when are we leaving?" Lucy asked as she watched Natsu continue to inhale his meal.

"Where're we goin' Lucy?" Natsu asked with an overstuffed mouth.

"To my apartment. I need to get some clothes and my dog since I won't be living there for a little bit. You ready?"

"Yosh!" Natsu exclaimed as he gulped down his last bite. "I'm all fired up and ready to go Luce! Tell me which direction we're headed in and we'll get started!"

At his new nickname, Lucy couldn't help a small warm feeling in her gut blooming, but she quickly dismissed it.

"Okay! Let's go!"

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 **I'm so excited about my new reviews, favorites, and follows! I want to sincerely thank everyone who contributed their input to this story and I hope that it continues! I'm currently working on the cover art, any ideas are welcome.**

 **Personal shout out to MarSofTheGalaxies, fanficaddict14, the guest, Mezatron, chelsannful, Alyss Hatter, AlphaFemale101, animalover, ficlovernalufan, and Cami-chan23 for your reviews! Thank you so SO much and I hope that you all continue enjoying the story!**

 **Well that's all for now folks! See ya next time! :D**


	5. I Spy and Lucy Kicks!

**Ok! So we're (finally) moving along with another chappie! I'm so sorry for my absence; July was when the proverbial excrement hit the fan and then we had to deal with a natural disaster and the aftermath on the tail end of August… I won't go into details because that would take up way too much space, but let's just say I'm ready for some normalcy!**

 **I hope that you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am! I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head that I want to include, but I don't know where I want to put each of them yet. They're such small scenes, but I think that they help define relationships (both romantic and platonic) to give the characters depth and believability. If there's anything in particular that you wanna see, please let me know and I'll see if I can squeeze it in with what I've got going on.**

 **Disclaimer: My cat says hi again! She decided that she wanted to mention that she isn't owned by anyone and telling her otherwise will get you a boop on the nose! So I guess I really don't own anything… :P**

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Hey There… Ch. 5

"Natsu! There is no way that we're walking all the way to my apartment! I live 13 floors above the ground with no elevator, I'm not going to walk all the way there!" Lucy exclaimed as she grabbed the collar of his jacket.

"But Luuuuuussssshhhheeeee!" Natsu whined as he turned around to face the blonde. "I can move about as fast as a car! I'll be way faster than if we get stuck in traffic…" The end of the pinkette's reasoning turned into a soft grumble.

"I'll consider that next time," Lucy huffed as she had to keep a straight face from his antics. "Right now, I have no clothes and my dog is probably worried sick about me. Come on, I'm going to hail a cab." At that, Natsu knew he had been defeated and sulked outside with Lucy as she hailed a cab. As she slid in, Lucy noticed that Natsu looked a little paler than normal and he bit his lip in discomfort… THAT was a little too attractive for Lucy.

"Come on Natsu! At this rate, we're not going to make it this year!" Lucy snapped, trying anything to keep her thoughts to herself. Natsu sighed once more in defeat and sidled into the car next to her. As soon as the door was shut, Natsu turned green, raising a chuckle out of Lucy.

"We're going to Strawberry Street. Anywhere is fine." Lucy quickly told the cabbie, shoved the money in his hand, and they zoomed off without another word. The blonde watched with increasing amusement as Natsu sank further and further into the seat, obviously trying not to hurl on anything.

The silent car ride wasn't over soon enough; Lucy really didn't like seeing Natsu so dull and pathetic. It was totally against his personality to be this passive about anything, which Lucy found that to be surprisingly true despite the fact that she had only known him for a few hours. When the cabbie pulled over on Strawberry Street, he tipped his hat and watched Lucy drag a nearly catatonic Natsu out onto the curb.

As soon as Natsu realized that they had been removed from the moving metal (plastic?) box of death, he laid stomach first on the pavement and kissed it.

"I am never leaving you again," Natsu murmured as he almost lovingly caressed the sidewalk and Lucy was almost jealous… until she realized that AGAIN her mind was getting a little desperate if she was jealous of CONCRETE.

"Are you through with your moment?" Lucy deadpanned. Natsu looked a little sheepish as he quickly stood up and dusted himself off.

"You don't understand the severity of what I just went through."

"No, I don't. Let's just go and get to my apartment already." With that last jab, the pair walked in the direction of Lucy's apartment. They walked in comfortable silence until Natsu snagged Lucy into an alley and pushed her up against a wall.

"What the hell are you t-" Natsu hushed Lucy with a hand over her mouth. He peered around the corner scanned the area to see if they were spotted. He breathed a sigh of relief finding that their followers hadn't found them just yet and as he moved back into the alley, he realized how good the person he was shielding smelled… like Chanel No. 5… he shook his head and grinned at the blond.

"Sorry 'bout that Luce, I saw some more people who were probably not friendly and didn't want them seeing us just yet. Is there an entrance to your building on this side?" At his question, the blonde stopped squirming and drew up her face in thought.

"Yes, the stairway right there can take us to the right floor." The pair then rushed up the 13 flights of stairs and halted at the doorway at the top.

"Okay, I'm going to peek around the door to see if there are any baddies roaming the hall. What's your apartment number? If there's no one nearby, I'll go ahead and sprint that direction."

"It's 1325." Without a reply, Natsu opened the door to find no one in the hallway. He motioned for Lucy to follow and they both bolted for door 1325. After unlocking the door, Natsu slid Lucy behind himself, just in case there were intruders waiting inside and crept into the apartment. He let out a deep breath when his superior senses of hearing and smell didn't detect any new and different human scents recently.

"Okay, we're clear. Just hurry Lucy." With that comment, Lucy huffed and walked into her apartment. Natsu took the opportunity to survey the apartment while Lucy was busy, just in case he'd ever come back; he wasn't one to be caught off guard and knowing the layout was very important.. or at least that was what he told himself.

The apartment was simply yet tastefully furnished, the living area was of moderate size and flowed directly into a similarly proportioned kitchen. There weren't any crazy bold colors; just simple neutral tones with a dash of soft pink here and there to keep it interesting. There was a wood burning fireplace in the far corner that had a few trinkets placed on the mantle. Natsu found it somewhat odd that she didn't have a single family photo on display. He himself didn't have many pictures of his family, but that was hardly surprising given his background.

The pinkette was interrupted from his thoughts with a high-pitched, panicked scream. Without any pause, Natsu sprinted in the direction her heard the noise to find Lucy backed up against the wall and pointing at something across the room from her.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked worriedly, not liking the look of confusion and shock on her face.

"Why is there a talking blue cat in my apartment?" At this, Natsu abruptly spun in the direction she was pointing and saw a blue cat tail waving out of a deep opened drawer.

"Natsu, you've gotta come see what I found!" the cat exclaimed as his head perked up from the drawer.

"You know this cat?" a very angry Lucy asked in a low tone, one that Natsu didn't like at all.

"Yes? He's my cat… Happy…" at this, the cat jumped out of Lucy's drawer with an "Aye!"

"Why the hell is he in my room, going through my drawers?"

"That's a very good question…" Natsu gulped.

"I was getting tired of waiting for Natsu at the guild, so I decided to follow you and see what you were up to." Happy said proudly and looked at Natsu again. "But really Natsu, you should check out some of her clothes, I don't understand what she'd use some of them for… Take a look at these for example!" Happy then held up a skimpy pair of lacy red underwear that was practically see-through. Natsu swallowed and nervously glanced towards an embarrassed and infuriated woman, which read as only one thing in his mind: pain.

"LUCY KIIIICK!" Lucy yelled as a battle cry and decisively bowled over the pink haired man in her room, followed swiftly by yanking the annoying blue cat up by the tail. She glared at the cat, causing him to cower and cry. Once she felt like the message got through to him, Lucy released a wailing furball into the arms of a very stunned and very in pain Natsu.

"Naastuuu! That scary lady is so mean! Not to mention a weirdo for having such weird taste for impractical clothing! What would you even wear this for?" This caused both Lucy and Natsu to blush. Lucy knew exactly what she could use that pair of underwear for, and that it could be very beneficial in the right circumstances…

"Okay!" Natsu said abruptly and gently pulled the cat away from his chest. "I think it's time to leave Lucy alone to finish packing. Where's your dog Lucy? I'll go round it up and get some supplies for it."

"Oh that would be great! Thanks!" Lucy quickly replied, grateful for the change in subject. "My dog is in the hallway bathroom. I just keep him in there when I'm away because it's his favorite room in the apartment. His food and leash should be in the kitchen." And with that, much to Lucy's relief, Natsu stormed out of the room with Happy in tow.

After she watched the door to her room shut, Lucy set to finish her packing. _Even though Happy brought them out as a joke, I might wear these one day for a confidence boost._ She picked up the lacy panties from where they were dropped on the floor and stuffed them quickly into her suitcase. She then went to go find her toiletry bag in the en suite master bathroom and returned to her bedroom in a thoughtful frown. _What else do I need?_ She quickly realized that she had only packed three days' worth of clothes and quickly discerned that her situation probably wouldn't blow over in a day or two… she then decided that three weeks' worth of clothes would probably be more accurate and if she had to stay longer, she could always find a washer. She made sure to bring a variety of clothes, just in case she would have to travel in different climates as well. When she was finished packing, she zipped the suitcase closed with a satisfied grin.

* * *

Natsu needed some air after Happy's little… _scene_ in Lucy's bedroom. He was a red-blooded male after all; it wasn't like he didn't know what Lucy could do with that pair of underwear. He himself hadn't ever been in an… intimate… relationship before, but he'd heard enough from the other male members of his guild. _Sometimes heightened senses were a definite drawback…_

The pinkette found Lucy's dog very easily. When he opened the door to the bathroom, the little white ball of fluff wobbled around his legs and gave a weird happy bark that sounded more like "puun-puun(?)". At this, Happy stifled a laugh.

"Even her dog is weird Natsu!" Natsu simply grinned and shook his head in amusement as he bent down to pet the dog.

"This dog is very nice Happy. Maybe you should try to make friends with it." Happy had no choice but to heed Natsu's request. The male watched as the cat and dog sniffed each other with mild amusement. After a few moments of watching the two animals interact, Natsu quietly walked to the kitchen and decided to start his search with the cabinet right next to the pantry's door. Behind door number one was the bag of dog food and the leash folded up neatly next to it. _Odd, that's exactly where I'd put my pet supplies._ The pinkette simply shrugged it off and found a decent sized shoulder bag to put the supplies in.

As he was returning to Lucy's room, he heard her scream once more and rushed to her room to find her being cornered by a black cloaked figure. Natsu cursed under his breath and swung the bag containing the pet supplies at the attacker's head. It connected with a solid thump and the assailant stumbled back a few feet away from the frightened woman. Natsu next dropped the bag and jump kicked the man into the en suite bathroom and shut the door.

"Quickly, we don't have much time," Natsu said as he held the door closed. He shouted for Happy and the blue cat appeared with the shaking white dog a moment later. "It's time to fly the coop buddy. I want you to take Lucy and fly to the guild ok? I'll follow behind to make sure that you get away safely. Here-" he cut off and whipped around the bag holding the pet supplies. He pulled a magical space enhancer charm out of his pocket and dropped it in the bag and watched it glow before he looked at Lucy.

"I'll answer any questions later, I put a charm on the bag so that it'll hold a lot more. Put your suitcase in there and carry it out; I'm going to need my hands free to fight." Lucy just nodded and did as she was told. As soon as the bag was cinched up tight and on Lucy's shoulder, the bathroom door broke open and four black cloaked figures tried to rush out.

The little white dog thought that it was a great time to defend its master and stood on its two wobbly back paws to try to act as a shield. No one noticed, however, that the little dog briefly glowed a dazzling gold before changing back into its current appearance. Natsu had to stifle a laugh at the house pet's antics as he defended himself and the others from the Phantom Lord pursuers.

"Happy, take Lucy and Plue and go!" I'll hold these guys off until you're airborne!" Happy didn't need to be told twice and hauled Lucy out of her bedroom window by wrapping his tail around her. Natsu spied the little dog and pitched it out the window for Lucy to catch. He sighed internally as he watched the trio float further away from the building.

The pinkette was doing well until one of the cloaked figures decided it would be a great idea to start torching the place with a flamethrower. Natsu cursed under his breath as he watched the apartment become engulfed in flames and he knew that he couldn't eat them all for fear of a commotion in front of innocent bystanders. He tried to take in small gulps that would slow down the progression slightly, but realized that he'd have to bail because the guy with the flamethrower just kept hosing down the entire apartment in flames.

Natsu kicked one more Phantom, and leapt out the window to the adjacent rooftop to start his retreat. He really didn't want to get any more involved than he had to at this point. It was already looking bad on him, and if he didn't know any better, he'd think that they were trying to frame him for a magical crime.

He caught up with Happy and Lucy easily and they slowed to watch as the flames started consuming the entire building.

"My apartment," Lucy softly cried and Natsu could feel the sadness in her voice.

"Sorry Luce," Natsu grimly replied and he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed. "Unfortunately, my hands are tied. The fire has become too big and too noticeable for me to try to eat all of the flames. Someone would notice and Fairy Tail would get a lot of heat for it. I would totally do it if there wasn't so much at stake, but with Fairy Tail, the magic council, and Phantom Lord all butting heads, there could be some serious consequences…"

Lucy nodded and brushed away a tear. "It's ok. I know that you didn't do it. I saw those guys with my own eyes use that flamethrower and if you were in a different position, you'd totally go 'vigilante badass' on them and make them sorry they messed with us." At that, Natsu grinned.

"Damn straight Luce! Don't worry! I'll let you have your revenge when we go raid Phantom Lord's guild. I'm sure you'll be a force to be reckoned with! Now let's get you back to Fairy Tail; I think it's time we call it a night."

"I couldn't agree more!"

* * *

 **And one more chappie is off the presses! Yay Happy has made his grand entrance! Teehee! Silly Natsu and his new perverted friend… Thank you again to all you readers. It would be a little pointless to post a story for no one to read it so I appreciate your time greatly! Kudos to anyone who caught my 'hidden" references and extra cheesecake points if you can name where they're from!**

 **I want to give a personal shout out to Alyss Hatter, 4evrDorkly17, Cami-Chan23, Animallover (Sorry I didn't say thank you earlier, my computer was being silly and didn't show your review until later…), and Life Death rabidlovingfangirl for your reviews! I really thank you for all of your support and I hope you will continue on this journey with me! Until then! :D**


	6. Smoke and Tears

**Hey guys! I'm so so very happy that we're still going! Without more delay, let's dive in.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything…**

* * *

Hey There… Ch. 6

The journey back to the guild was fairly silent; Natsu lost in thought and Lucy totaling her losses. Happy tried a time or two to make light of the situation, but Natsu just shook his head at his furry friend and they continued on in contemplative silence. As they reached the front doors of the guild hall, Happy set Lucy down on the sidewalk and Natsu jumped down from the adjacent rooftop to give another comforting shoulder squeeze to Lucy.

"Well at least you had already packed for a few weeks right?" Natsu said and then pushed the doors open. There were considerably less people in the guild hall now than there were just a few hours ago. Lucy thought that seeing the guild hall like this was mildly depressing, even if she didn't know why. Natsu steered Lucy towards Mira at the bar and plopped her down on a stool before sitting next to her.

"Mira? Lucy needs a room. I think she's about done with the night…"

"Ok," Mira said as she picked up on Lucy's downtrodden mood. "I'll take her to one of our spare rooms. Lucy, if you will follow me…?" Lucy nodded and watched as the white haired beauty went into the back room behind the bar and returned with a small set of keys and let herself out from behind the bar. Lucy stood and quietly followed Mira up some flights of stairs, leaving Natsu and Happy behind in the hall.

"I didn't think she'd take losing her home that hard…" Happy mumbled and watched the two women ascend the stairway.

"Do you mind if I asked what happened?" Mira quietly asked.

"Not at all!" Lucy replied with a weak smile. "While I was finishing my packing, some more Phantom members attacked us in my apartment. Natsu was holding them off just fine, but one of the guys had a flamethrower… when we left, the entire building was almost consumed by flames. There was nothing we could do…" Lucy trailed off. Mira nodded and sighed sympathetically.

"After you had just settled down too. I'm really sorry that it turned out like that. I was planning on coming to visit next week too, seeing as you told me that you were finally finished with decorating it how you wanted." The pair of women had walked up the last flight of stairs and turned to the right.

"This is this floor's lounge," Mira said and gestured around to the spacious room. "Members of the guild tend to hang out on the floor's lounges. The floors are separated by gender, so only girls' apartments are on this floor. The floors also alternate genders; whereas this floor is all females, the one below it is all males and so on and so forth. This pattern trends for about six floors, and then below that are the couples and families apartments. Those are larger and vary in the number of bedrooms. These continue down about four floors and then you get to the three floors of hotel rooms that we place clients or any visitors that aren't staying with us for very long. Below that is the second floor, which serves as a VIP floor of sorts and has the guild master's office and personal quarters on it. The ground floor is the main guild hall, as you already know, and finally there are three underground floors for storage and shelters, should the need arise. After I show you your room, I'll answer any questions you may have and let you go to sleep. How does that sound?"

Lucy nodded as she tried to process all of the information; this building was 18 stories tall if you included the basement floors! Mira then stopped in front of a door, unlocked it, and then stepped inside with Lucy behind her. The small apartment was unfurnished and had only one bedroom and one bathroom. The living room and kitchen had wooden floors and were smaller than the one on Strawberry Street, but not to where it was uncomfortably so.

Lucy walked into the bedroom and sighed when she saw that this carpeted room was unfurnished as well, meaning she had to sleep on the floor. The bathroom lifted her spirits a little though; it was larger and nicer than her old en suite. As she finished surveying the apartment, she turned around to Mira who had an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry we couldn't do more for you Lucy. I'm sure that the master will give you an allowance for furniture, seeing as it was our guild's fault that your apartment burned. Tomorrow, we'll get you set up nice and proper! I hope you sleep well." At this comment, Lucy gave Mira a true smile.

"Thank you so much Mira. Have a good night." Mira then said good night and as she turned to walk out of the apartment, a tuft of sky blue hair appeared in the doorway.

"Um, I heard that Lucy's place burned down and she's going to have to stay with us for a little while. Oh! Lucy! Do you want to stay in my apartment tonight? I've got a couch that you could crash on," Levy offered. Lucy tiredly and happily accepted her offer, and followed the petite bluenette across the hall to her room while bidding Mirajane a final good night.

"Thank you so much!" Lucy sighed happily as she set Plue down and plopped down on the couch. Levy's apartment was filled to the brim with books and whatever books didn't get crammed onto the overstuffed shelves lining the walls were stacked in semi neat piles all around the room.

"I haven't cleaned up very much. Sorry about the mess!" Levy apologized sheepishly as she looked around her living room in mild discomfort.

"Don't worry about it!" Lucy laughed and immediately Levy broke into a smile. "I'm just glad I don't have to sleep on the floor!"

"You can take a shower too if you want," Levy said and Lucy nearly cried tears of joy at the thought of a nice, hot shower.

"Thank you so much!" Lucy quickly chirped, dug around for a change of clothes in her magically enhanced bag, and ran to the bathroom for a quick shower. As she was about to strip, the blonde realized that she still hadn't fed her dog and rushed out to feed him. The wobbly ball of fluff happily nibbled on her peace offering and Lucy raced back into the bathroom to take a much needed shower. When she finished getting ready for bed, Lucy returned to the living room to find Levy playing quietly with her dog.

"Your dog is so sweet!" Levy exclaimed softly as she scratched behind one small ear.

"Thank you! I found him abandoned in an alleyway on my way home from work about two weeks ago and he's been around ever since. He hardly ever barks, is toilet trained and even knows some basic commands. I haven't the slightest clue why his previous owner ditched him, but he's a real sweetheart and I love him."

"Sorry to change subjects on you so quickly, but I heard that you know Mira. How?"

"Well, I work for the 'Weekly' magazine as an editor and I got my first break on interviewing Mira on a modeling job," Lucy smiled in fond memory. "We started talking more after the article was published and started hanging out periodically after that. She was my first friend made when I moved to this city."

Levy giggled and propped her head on her hand. "That's so funny! Mira works for 'Sorcerer Weekly,' but would get called in to the more widely known 'Weekly' magazine because she was so popular! Now that I think about it, I believe she said something about being interviewed by a cute girl that she wouldn't have minded having a photoshoot with."

"Oh my Mavis! She told me that she wanted to do a photoshoot with me after our first interview!" Lucy exclaimed and the two women giggled together.

They continued chatting about various other topics until four in the morning. Stretching and yawning, Lucy checked her phone and yelped in surprise when she saw the time on her screen.

"Levy, it's four in the morning! I'm not going to be able to wake up before noon at this rate…"

"It's ok! Fairy Tail really does take everything at their own pace so it won't be too unusual if you show up in the guild hall at noon or even later. Don't worry about it! We were getting to know each other and that's something that I'm definitely sorry for!" Levy chimed in and made Lucy smile.

"I'm glad to hear it! Oh! I forgot to ask; who told you that I needed a place to stay for the night?"

"Natsu. As he was going up to his apartment, he saw me as I was going down for a midnight snack and he told me that you were probably wanting some company tonight." At this, Lucy flushed slightly. She hadn't had someone worry about her for a long time now. Levy saw the pink creeping up Lucy's cheeks and fixed the blond with a knowing smirk.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a crush on Natsu!"

"Me? No way!" Lucy protested almost a little too quickly. "It's just that no one has cared enough about me to send someone to check up on me for a long time now." At that comment, Levy's expression changed from an amused smirk to a miffed frown.

"Believe it or not Lucy, you're not alone any more. You might not be a mage, but Fairy Tail takes care of their own. I don't know where you came from before you landed here in Magnolia, but know that you have found people that care about you whether you like it or not!" Levy said fiercely.

The small bluenette's outburst took Lucy aback in shock. The blonde stared at the woman across from her for a few seconds before she felt moisture glide down her cheek.

"Oh honey come here," Levy murmured as her facial expression melted into one of heartfelt concern and embraced the now crying blonde. Levy held Lucy for a few minutes while letting the overwhelmed woman quietly sob into her chest.

"T-thank y-you so much L-Levy," Lucy gasped as she took in a shaky breath. "I needed that. It's been a while since I've had a good cry."

"It's not a crime to show your feelings Lucy," Levy said as she smoothed some of Lucy's hair down. "Please feel free to come to me if you want to cry or let off some steam. Even though we just met yesterday, I feel like we'll be really good friends."

"Mmm!" Lucy agreed as she gave her friend a watery smile. Returning Lucy's smile, Levy stretched and got up off the couch.

"I think it's time I went to bed. 'Night Lucy! Pleasant dreams and I'll see you in a few hours."

The blonde returned sentiments and watched the petite bluenette retreat to her room and shut the door softly. Snuggling into the couch, Lucy pulled up a blanket Levy had brought her up to her chin. She smiled into the couch cushions and as sleep took her to the land of dreams, she decided that she had stumbled upon a really neat group of people.

* * *

 **Yay for LeLu BrOTP! And yay for a concerned Natsu! I wanted him to show his compassionate side (Mavis knows he has one from how many times he's made someone or the entire guild cry over one of his heartfelt speeches) to give some more depth to his character. Yay character development!**

 **I want to give a personal shout out to Alyss Hatter, NaLu and InuKag, AnonymousStalkerFriend and Life Death rabidlovingfangirl for your awesome reviews! Thank you so SO much for your time and to MarSofTheGalaxies for the PM too!**

 **Thank you so much for reading yet another chappie! Farewell until the next time! :D**


	7. Sign Me Up!

**Sorry for missing my update on the first... Life can get crazy sometimes... *coughs* On another completely different note, it's another chappie of "Hey There!"**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but my cat might think she owns me… O_o**

* * *

Hey There… Ch. 7

Lucy woke up to the sound of rustling paper and she realized that her dog might need to go out to do some business.

"I'm coming Plue! Hang on just a sec!" Lucy exclaimed and scrambled to hook the leash on to the white fluff ball. The dog didn't seem to mind and patiently wagged his tail. She quickly told Levy (who was in her room reading) that she was taking her dog out and the bluenette just waved in acknowledgement.

Just as she was about to walk out the door, she paused. "Hey Levy, is there an elevator in this building?"

"Nope!" Lucy heard Levy chirp and Lucy face-palmed.

"Why on Earthland aren't there any elevators?! This building is freaking ginormous!"

"You can thank the males of this guild and Erza," Levy wryly replied as she strolled out of her room to talk with Lucy directly. "We did have an elevator, but since elevator-kun was annihilated 26 times, yes, they rebuilt it 25 times, Master decided that he wasn't going to bother to fix it again. We haven't missed it too much because of space enhancement charms and it allows everyone to get a work out climbing the stairs up to their rooms." At this comment, Lucy sweat dropped.

"People destroyed an elevator 26 times? How does that even happen?"

"You might forget that almost everyone who lives in this building possesses magic. Some of the types of magic that guild members hold, like Erza, Natsu, and Gray for example, can do a number on objects and structures."

"Mavis," Lucy muttered and sighed in frustration. "What did I get myself into?"

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Levy chirped, amused at her friend's overwhelmed face. "The people that belong to this guild are very kind hearted. They also mainly keep their fights to the guild hall on the first floor."

Lucy just had to laugh and twisted the doorknob of the apartment door. "Well I'm going to take Plue out. Do you want to meet me in the guild hall for lunch?"

"I would love to!" Levy exclaimed and waved goodbye as Lucy left her apartment with her shoulder bag and Plue in tow. Lucy was surprised by Plue's bladder control once again; he had never once made a mess indoors and there were days when she got home really, REALLY late…

Walking back into the guild, she spied a certain pinkette literally butting heads with a shirtless Gray.

"Damn it you perverted snowcone! Can't you tell I'm trying to eat in peace?"

"Oi! I'd leave you alone if your table manners weren't so atrocious that food was flying everywhere, ash for brains!"

"Why you-"

"I hope that you two aren't fighting…" an unamused Erza said as she walked up behind the two frenemies.

"Us, Fighting? No way Erza!" Gray quickly defended and wrapped an arm around Natsu's shoulders like they were the best of friends.

"Aye!" was Natsu's only response and he sounded mysteriously like a blue haired cat that Lucy had recently met…

"Good," Erza replied as she pulled them both into her hard… chestplate? _Mavis! Why is everyone here so weird?_ Lucy thought to herself as she sat down next to Levy, who was reading a book at a phenomenal speed.

"Levy!" Lucy exclaimed as she stared at the small bluenette in awe. "How can you even process the book when you're reading it so fast?"

"Oh! You're here Lu-chan!" Levy happily chirped as she marked her place in her book and took off the red-rimmed glasses she was wearing. "These magical glasses, which incidentally are called 'gale-force reading glasses', allow me to read books at much faster speeds than if I just read with the naked eye. You should try them out sometime!" Lucy smiled in response.

"I'm going to get something to eat and I'll be right back!" Lucy quickly stated and walked over to the bar, where Mira was tending to some customers.

"Did you sleep well last night?" the white haired woman asked as Lucy came into her view.

"I haven't slept that well in a long time," Lucy replied and Mira smiled in response. "What is there to eat today?"

"Well there's a chicken pot pie, salad, we have some pasta prepped in the back, and I can grill you a hamburger if you'd like."

"I think I'll have some of the pasta. Thanks Mira!" As Mira walked away to bring Lucy her food, Lucy contemplated what else she was going to do with her day. _Probably shopping and fixing up my apartment_ Lucy sighed internally and thanked Mira when she returned with some heavenly smelling pasta. As Lucy was reaching for her wallet to pay, Mira simply shook her head.

"This one's on me. Also, if you wind up becoming a guild member, you don't have to pay for any meals. In your monthly rent, food is also included in the bill so all you have to do is pay for besides rent is electricity, internet if you want it, and water. Also, if you end up staying here for more than a month, the first month's rent will be free as well. It was our fault that your apartment burned down, so the guild master felt like he should take some of the responsibility. Speaking of which!" Mira cut off and reached into one of the pockets of her dress. "Here is some money for you to pay for furnishing your apartment! If you want, I could come over later and help you decorate."

"That sounds great!" Lucy said as she took her food and the money. "I think I'm going to need all the help I can get. And thank you so much for the food!" Settling back into her spot beside Levy, Lucy took a bite of pasta and sighed happily. "This pasta is so good! Where did it come from?"

"Mira makes all the guild's food," Levy giggled as she started on her own meal. "No one complains because Mira is one of the best cooks ever!"

"I heartily agree!" Lucy said and the two ate together in companionable and blissful silence.

"Luuusssshhhhhheeeeeeee!" a high-pitched voice exclaimed and a blue cat flew into Lucy's chest. "I'm sorry I went through your clothes! I didn't mean it… I was just curious…"

"It's okay Happy," Lucy sighed and she cradled the furry creature in her arms. "I forget how adventurous animals are sometimes." At this comment, Plue jumped up onto the bench in between Lucy and Levy and gave a "Pun-puun!"

"Hey Luce!" Natsu called as he approached the two women. "Did ya sleep well last night?"

"Yes! Thank you very much by the way! I didn't have to sleep on the floor last night because of you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Natsu mumbled as he plopped on a bench across the table from the two women.

"Oh Natsu, you don't have to be modest!" Levy teased as she saw a faint pink taint his cheeks.

"I'm not being modest. Because of me, Lucy's apartment burned down and she didn't have anywhere to sleep. My apartment is not currently fit for company to see, much less sleep in so I figured since you two hit it off so well, you wouldn't mind spending more time together…" Natsu grumbled and his gaze settled on the blonde. "So what're we doin' today?"

"Well I'm going shopping for furniture for my new apartment. I'm going to need you to come with me to do the heavy lifting. Do you want to come too Levy?"

"I would love to!" Levy accepted and stood up. "Let me go put my book back in my room and we can head out!" And with that, the petite bluenette scooped up her book and took off up the stairs.

"She sure moves quickly," Lucy marveled and Natsu chuckled in agreement.

"Do I have to come with you?" Natsu said as he looked back at the blonde.

"Yes, I don't know anyone else who can lift furniture. Well, I assume you can lift furniture…"

"What's this about lifting furniture?" Erza asked as she appeared right behind Natsu, causing him to jump.

"I'm not fighting anyone!" Natsu quickly retorted and shielded his head.

"I can see that and I'm quite proud of you," Erza said and smiled at the pair sitting down. "You said you were going shopping for furniture Lucy?"

"Yes," Lucy replied, still holding back a giggle from Natsu's actions.

"Well then it's settled," Erza said decidedly and crossed her arms over her chest. "Natsu, Gray, and I will accompany you on your quest. I assume you have a space enhancement charm for your bag. Is there anything else you require before we leave?"

"Levy is also coming to help!" Lucy exclaimed, trying to make sure that they didn't start leaving without the little bluenette. The red head nodded and went to go track down Gray just as Levy came bounding down the last flight of stairs.

"I'm all set to go!" Levy chirped and stopped to stare in confusion at a reluctant Natsu, a face-palming Lucy, and Erza dragging Gray towards them.

"Good, then let's head out!" Erza commanded and they all filed out of the guild hall towards the shopping district of Magnolia.

* * *

Shopping turned out to be a bit of a nightmare, as Gray and Natsu tried to get into fights behind Erza's back the entire time, angered her and then she beat some bloody sense into them. _It's like a vicious cycle_ Lucy thought as she stared in amazement at the stupidity of the boys.

"This happens all the time, I wouldn't worry about it," Levy whispered to the blonde as they inched slowly away from the scenes the fighting trio caused.

Lucy did discover that almost every shop that she had ever gone to had a magical section in it. All they had to do was ask to "go to the back to check on some items" and flashed their guild tattoos and they were led to the backs of the stores where there were normal items that could be stuffed into space enhanced bags or magical items that were also for sale.

After they had gotten most of the furniture that Lucy required for her new apartment, they went into a pawn shop that held magical wares in the back. Lucy stared in awe at all of the magical little knickknacks while Levy and Erza perused the stock in interest. There were weapons of various types, magical tomes, jewelry, and even some figurines that moved.

"Wow," Lucy breathed as she approached a table of knickknacks. "All of these things contain magic?"

"Yeah, isn't it cool?" Levy excitedly replied behind a stack of books that she was carrying to the register. Lucy sweat dropped when she saw Erza examining some of the swords the vendor had on display and watched as she started testing them with a few swift strokes.

"What's your type of magic Erza?" Lucy nervously asked as she saw the redhead select a wickedly curved blade.

"I specialize in what's called requip magic. This magic allows me to summon weapons and armor at will out of my magical inventory. I currently have 106 complete sets of armor and over 2000 weapons in my magic arsenal that I can summon at any time," Erza coolly replied as she decided that she would purchase the blade.

"W-wow!" Lucy choked out as she saw Erza move right along to test the next weapon. Lucy quickly decided that she would look for a weapon after she finished with the trinkets. _I might as well have something to defend myself with if I'm going to be running around fighting bad guys…_ As the blonde was perusing the trinkets, a small silver key with a marred handle caught her eye.

"What is this?" Lucy murmured to herself as she picked up the key to examine more closely; feeling a warm glow pulsing through her hand.

"That, my dear, is a gate key!" a little old woman stated as she took the key from Lucy. "You must be very careful with this! One wrong move and you could use its magic. This type of magic is all about contracts and if you don't want to buy this key, I highly suggest you leave it alone."

"I think I want it," Lucy said seriously as she held out her hand to receive the key once more. The little woman looked at Lucy with an eyebrow raised before she sighed and handed it back over.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," the woman grumbled and Lucy looked up from the key to smile.

"I've felt this warm glow feeling before… I don't know where though… I want to purchase this key please!" Lucy replied with determination. "I'm going to purchase a weapon as well. Is there any that you would recommend?"

"I have just the thing here," the old woman said and led her to a wall that had more obscure weapons. "This whip right here has similar magic to the type of magic the key possesses." The older woman then picked up a brown leather whip and handed it to the blonde. Lucy nodded and followed the woman to the register, where she rang up Lucy's items and exchanged the goods for jewels. "Have a good day dearie!" The elderly lady chirped as Lucy bade farewell to her and left the back of the pawn shop.

"What took you so long Lu-chan?" Levy asked as the blonde rejoined the group.

"I was just purchasing some items," Lucy replied and her new-found friends all looked at her in shock.

"You're a mage!" Natsu shouted, looking quite hurt. The others shared similar looks of surprise.

"W-well," Lucy started nervously as the group stared her down. "I don't know if I'm a mage or not… it's just when I picked up this key-" Lucy waved the silver key, "I felt a tingly feeling that I had felt before, so I thought that I would try to see if I was a mage…"

"That is actually a very good idea Lucy," Erza replied after a moment of silence.

"Did you just get the key Lu-chan?" Levy inquired, her gaze transfixed on the dulled key.

"Well, I actually also got a magical weapon for myself…" Lucy trailed off and dug around in her bag to pull out the whip she had also purchased.

"Kinky…" Gray mumbled quietly under his breath, his eyes quickly found something more interesting to look at.

"Well I guess we should get going then," Natsu said abruptly as he stacked his hands behind his head and spun to walk towards the exit.

"Wait!" Lucy exclaimed. "I want to see if I can use it here first… Hang on…" Lucy stared at the silver key, her thumb brushing over the worn handle. She felt the warmth come back to her hand and concentrated on it until her hand started glowing a shimmering gold. "Open, gate of the Canis minor, Nicola!" Lucy murmured and with a spark of light and the sound of a doorbell ring, a fluffy white dog appeared in the center of the group.

"PLUE?!" Lucy, Natsu, and Levy yelled as they stared at the shaking animal. Plue then stood on its hind legs and morphed into a white snowman looking creature with a carrot nose ( **AN: aka what Plue actually looks like)**.

"What the hell just happened?" Gray exclaimed as he pointed at the dog-turned snowman.

"Oh my Mavis!" Levy squealed with glee as she picked Plue up off the ground. "Plue is a celestial spirit! I thought this type of magic didn't exist anymore because of how rare it is!" As Levy danced around with a wobbly Plue, the rest of the friends sweat dropped.

"I think we need some answers Levy," Lucy said as she watched the bluenette stop mid-dance with an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry! I just got so excited when I got to see a type of magic that I've only read books about. If you want, I can teach you what I now about celestial magic after we finish setting up your apartment Lucy."

"I'd like that very much," Lucy smiled warmly at the bluenette and took Plue out of her hands. "Well I guess it's time for you to go back to wherever you came from now right? Thanks so much for your company and I hope we can become good friends in the future!"

With a "pun-puun," the little spirit vanished in a poof of golden light and Lucy turned to the rest of the group with a broad smile.

"Since we all know I'm a mage now, I wanna join Fairy Tail! Can I do that when we get back to the guild?"

"Yes!" the rest of Lucy's friends answered and they all laughed together as they started back to the guild. As soon as they walked into the guild hall, Levy ran off to Mira to explain the situation and bring her back with the guild master in tow.

"So I hear that you're a mage?" Makarov asked as he stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"I think so. Mr. Makarov. Can I join your guild?"

"I don't see why not," the guild master chuckled as he eyed the blonde curiously. "You were going to be staying here for a period of time anyways… I definitely think there's room for one more in our family."

"Thank you so much!" Lucy exclaimed with joy.

"I'm so happy that you're going to be staying!" Mirajane cheerily stated as she held up a huge stamp. "This stamp will give you your guild mark. It's only visible to mages and it's not permanent if you want to leave the guild for whatever reason. Where would you like it and what color?"

"Hmm… Pink, on my hand," Lucy replied and stuck out her right hand to receive the stamp. Mira looked at her with a flash of her match-making look as she pressed the stamp into her skin. With an audible 'pop,' the stamp was removed to reveal a pink Fairy Tail insignia that was surprisingly close to the shade of salmon of a particular male's hair… Before Lucy could give Mira a retort, Natsu grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards the stairs.

"C'mon Luce!" Natsu chirped. "We gotta set up your apartment! I need to get away from that ice princess before I die of boredom!" Lucy had to stifle a giggle as Gray started to move towards the rosette, but stopped when he realized Erza would see if he started a fist fight.

"Come help me Levy!" Lucy called as the pair started climbing up the stairs.

"I'm coming!" Levy cried after she exchanged knowing glances with Mira and rushed towards the stairs.

After climbing the mountain of stairs to Lucy's apartment, the trio to a brief breather before starting to unload Lucy's purchases. It took about two hours to situate all of the furniture how Lucy wanted it, but after it was all said and done, Lucy bade Natsu and Levy a farewell for the evening and breathed a sigh of content. With some internal debate, Lucy decided to get dinner and unpack her clothes in the morning, leaving her time to unwind before she went to sleep.

The blonde retrieved her meal without a hitch and after finishing it, deemed it a great idea to have a hot bath. Soaking in the bath for a good 30 minutes, Lucy finished the rest of her nightly routine and reasoned it was time for sleep. As Lucy strode out of the bathroom in her pajamas, she was hit with the sight of Natsu relaxing on her bed.

"Mavis Luce!" Natsu groaned as he shifted to face the blonde. "Your bed is so comfortable!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing Natsu?! How did you even get in here?" Lucy shrieked.

"Testing out your bed! I actually live in the apartment below yours and I saw your window was open so I climbed in, ya weirdo," Natsu wryly replied with a raised eyebrow. He then sat up on her bed and scratched his the back of his neck. "Also, do you wanna start training for hand to hand combat? Now that you're a mage, you could be targeted by other bad mages for your rare type of magic…"

"That's actually a really good idea," Lucy breathed and stared at the rose haired man, slightly impressed. "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow if you like."

"Sure!" Lucy happily agreed and Natsu gave her a wide grin.

"Awesome! Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow Luce. Good night!" Natsu then jumped onto the window sill and dropped down into his own apartment.

"Good night Natsu," Lucy sighed as she crawled into bed. _Natsu definitely was right_ Lucy thought as she closed her eyes. _This bed is freaking awesome._

* * *

 **Another Chappie down! Wooo! "Yer a wizard Lucy!" Lucy becomes a mage, has a training session planned with Natsu for hand to hand combat, and Levy for her celestial spirit stuffs! Aaaaaand, she becomes a Fairy Tail wizard officially! I have no idea why I'm just so excited today… Oh well! I'll just carry on.**

 **On a very random note, it kinda cracks me up, but this whole following business for the authors and stories… I think it's funny when someone new is "following" you. For example when you see: "AnonymousStalkerFriend is now following you" … O_O**

A special thanks to Animallover, cat. , fanficlove2014, , Alyss Hatter, and Yuyui Hime for your reviews! **Did I answer your question(s) Animallover? I felt that any and all elevators would not be able to escape the wrath of the Fairy Tail guild…**

 **Thank you again for choosing to read my story! If you have any ideas or plot topics (for even a different story), please feel free to give me a review or PM me! I hate to sound like I'm begging for reviews (follows, etc.) but I really like being able to talk with the people who want to see this story continue. Sometimes when I talk to readers, I get (I think that they're pretty great, but anyways) ideas that I incorporate into the story.**

 **Anyways, that's all for this installment of "Hey There!" See everyone next time! :D**


	8. Rise and Shine

**Previously on Dragonball Z… Just kidding! Just kidding! Welcome back my awesome readers to another chappie of "Hey There!" Anyways, time for the next installment of our story!**

 **Disclaimer: Don't get any ideas. I don't own anything!**

* * *

Hey There… Ch. 8

Lucy woke up from a really nice dream to the sound of yelling and the weight of a person on her chest.

"Wake up! Wake up Luce! Rise 'n shine sleepy head! Daylight's a wastin'!"

"Five more minutes," Lucy groaned as she put her pillow over her head to complete her ninja act of disappearing into the bed.

"Luce! You said we were gonna start training today! You gotta get up!"

"Sshhh!" Lucy said as she put a shushing finger where her lips would've been if the pillow wasn't covering them. "I'm a ninja. Ninjas sleep in peace." At this ridiculous comment, Natsu burst into laughter.

"Luce, you can't do that to me!" Natsu said and wiped a tear from his eye. "You gotta get up ya weirdo. If you don't get up by the count of three, you're not going to like the consequences. One…" Lucy snuggled back under the covers. "Two…" Still no response from the blonde. "Three… Okay, you asked for it!" Natsu exclaimed and proceeded to tickle Lucy through the covers.

Lucy howled with laughter and squirmed, but didn't get up out of bed. _I guess it's time to kick it up a notch…_ Natsu thought to himself and smirked. He then whipped back the covers and started tickling her bare flesh. Lucy was writhing under him, unable to take consistent breaths as she squealed and laughed until tears stung her eyes.

"Mercy! Mercy Natsu! I can't breathe! I'm getting up this time I promise!" Lucy wheezed between fits of laughter and Natsu relented and got off of her. Shoving the pillow off her face, Lucy rolled on her side and looked at the pinkette in disbelief. "W-why? Why would… you do that? I'm not going back to sleep," Lucy said between deep breaths as she flopped onto her back. "I just need to catch my breath…"

"You weren't getting up when I asked nicely!" Natsu replied cheerily and crossed his arms over his chest. "Plus, tickling people is one of my 101 secret specialties! You didn't have a chance to withstand that; even Gray admits defeat when I threaten him." That received an eyebrow raise from the blonde.

"Okay, I'll believe you for right now, but I'm going to have to confirm with Gray. By the way, what time is it?" Natsu snickered at the thought of Gray being asked about his secret talent.

"It's now 6:22 in the morning Luce! Time to start your training."

"WHAT THE HELL NATSU!" Lucy screeched while she launched out of bed to pummel Natsu for getting her up before the sun was shining.

"Mavis," Natsu chuckled as he blocked and dodged her blows. "You might not need training if come at your enemies like this…" He waited until she calmed down a bit before lowering his guard.

"How are you so energetic?" Lucy asked as she glared at the pink haired male in annoyance.

"I usually get up at this time to train. No one is usually in there at this time, so I figured you'd want to at least start training at this time in case you were uncomfortable with your skills in front of other people right now.

"You know, I'm kinda surprised you keep coming up with these good ideas because the way the other guild members treat you, you'd think you were a mindless pyromaniac, obsessed only with fighting people and setting things on fire-" Lucy put her hand over her mouth to stop her speech. She thought that those words were kept inside her head, but apparently not. Natsu looked at her briefly with a strange face that she was pretty sure she didn't like before it morphed into a careless grin.

"So, are you ready to train Luce? You're taking forever!" Natsu said and Lucy playfully shoved him.

"I just got out of bed! Get out of my room so I can change and I'll be ready in about 5 minutes." Lucy sighed in relief as Natsu shuffled out of the room. Walking over to her closet, she picked out a pair of shorts and sneakers that she could easily move around in, but frowned when she realized that she didn't pack any shirts that she could work out in. _What am I going to do?_ Lucy thought as she wracked her brain for any solution. Practically no one was awake, so she couldn't ask any of the girls she knew to borrow a shirt…

"Hey Natsu?" Lucy voiced nervously.

"Yeah?"

"Can I borrow one of your shirts? I didn't realize I didn't bring any shirts to work out in until just this moment…" Lucy opened her bedroom door to see Natsu walking towards her, thinking about what to do. Lucy also took the time to notice that he was wearing a faded black t-shirt and gray gym shorts with a scarf… "Why are you wearing a scarf?"

"Oh, this?" Natsu said as he was brought out of his thought, fingering his white scaled scarf fondly. "It's something Igneel gave me… I usually always wear it, but since we've been butting heads with Phantom Lord a lot recently, Gramps told me that I should probably stop wearing it in public because it's kinda iconic…" Lucy sensed that she was treading into something that Natsu was probably uncomfortable with sharing with many people, so she decided to drop it.

"So can I borrow a shirt? I'll go get some t-shirts later on today, but I'm going to need one if we're going to start right now." This seemed to pull Natsu back to the present and he simply grinned and started taking his shirt off.

"Here ya go Luce. I don't feel like climbing back into my apartment to get a shirt, so I'll let you use this one," Natsu chirped brightly as he shed his shirt and gave it to a stunned Lucy.

"You're going to be the death of me, you know that?" Lucy muttered as she grabbed the shirt and stormed back into her room to finish changing. _Holy Mavis!_ Lucy thought as she changed into her shorts and laced up her shoes. _I figured he was pretty fit but seriously?!_

She had nearly drooled when he revealed a perfectly sculpted abdomen and rippling arm muscles as she stripped off his shirt to give her. _Maybe I should ask for shirts more often… Bad! Bad Lucy!_ She thought as she slipped the shirt on. Before she opened the door to leave, she casually sniffed the shirt and found that it smelled like pine trees, cinnamon, and campfire smoke. _What an interesting combination._

"Hey Natsu, why do you smell like a campfire?" Lucy asked as she opened the door.

"What?" Natsu asked as he was confused by the question. "Where did that even come from?"

"Well… Your shirt… it smells like a campfire." _And other things,_ but Lucy wasn't going to tell him that.

"That's what you're hung up on?" Natsu said as he raised an eyebrow. "I think it's time to go work out now because you're saying some really weird things Luce…" Natsu then spun on his heel away from Lucy and walked towards the door. Lucy puffed her cheeks out in annoyance, but silently followed the male out of her apartment and to the built in gym that was on the first floor behind the guild hall.

"This place is huge!" Lucy exclaimed as she stared at all the different fitness equipment lining the spacious room. There were treadmills, ellipticals, both free weights and machines, two full sized boxing rings, punching bags, work out mats, and all sorts of other random stuff that she didn't realize could be used as work out equipment.

"Why is there a car in here?

"Elfman likes using this particular model for his bench pressing," Natsu said without batting an eye and Lucy sweat dropped.

"You people are crazy!"

"Nah, we just like to be at the top of our game," Natsu grinned and brought Lucy over to one of the boxing rings and he jumped up over the railing into it. "C'mon slowpoke!" Lucy grudgingly took Natsu's outstretched hand and was tugged up and into the ring before she knew what happened.

"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?" Lucy muttered as she crossed her arms over her ample chest.

"Aw c'mon Luce! It'll be fun!" Natsu said as he dug as he around in a crate at the edge of the ring to bring up a pair of boxing gloves and a pair of focus mitts. "We're going to start with some boxing today and then do some cardio. Have you ever practiced with any of this before?"

"No. I barely work out as it is…" Lucy said as she strapped on the gloves.

"Okay, well we'll start out with some basic training. I want you to punch my mitts as hard as you can, as fast as you can. Make sure you use both of your fists. Oh! And if you wanna throw in some combos, feel free to do so."

Natsu started her out slow, letting her get a feel for what she was punching at before cueing her to start dodging and ducking slowly.

"Don't worry if it seems slow at first. I just want you to learn the motions now and we'll worry about speeding it up later."

"Okay," Lucy grunted as she punched into one of the mitts. She continued landing combos and dodging jabs and swipes from Natsu for a few more minutes before she decided to throw in a high kick. This caught the pinkette off guard and caused him to take a step back and grin.

"Nice one Lucy! You can go ahead and start throwing those in if you want," Natsu said chirped happily and started ever so slowly speeding up his movements. Lucy kept up with him for a while, but she swung too wide for a punch and he got in a swipe at her with more force than he intended. Lucy yelped in pain and touched her side while Natsu quickly discarded his mitts to inspect the damage, feeling absolutely horrible.

"Dammit! I'm sorry Luce. I didn't mean to hit ya that hard," Natsu apologized as he lifted her shirt to look at her affected side. He winced when he saw a bruise already forming.

"Natsu. Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed trying to get his attention away from her side to make eye contact. "It's okay! You're training me to fight; when I fight people for real, they aren't going to feel sorry about punching me. I think I'll be ok if I get knocked around a little bit. Thank you for not wanting to totally waste me though," Lucy said as she tried to lighten the mood. Natsu chuckled a bit at that and started walking to the edge of the ring.

"Okay… well we've been doing this for a while. Why don't we take a quick water break and then start you on the treadmill?" Lucy nodded and headed towards one of the water fountains for a drink. After drinking her fill, she splashed some water on her face before turning to face Natsu who was drinking out of the water bottle he brought with him.

 _You are so not playing fair_ Lucy's thoughts nagged her as she tried not to once again stare openly at his six pack, or his chiseled hip flexors that disappeared into the waistband of his gym shorts… _Damn it… I'm doing it AGAIN._ Lucy rubbed her face in an effort to divert her attention, and it worked because by the time she was done, Natsu had finished his water break.

"Okay! Let's get'cha on the treadmill," Natsu said and powered up the treadmill for Lucy to get on. "Go at your own pace, but I want you to keep your heart rate up. You're going to being going for at least 30 minutes this round. I wanna see you sweat! I'll just be over here putting the beat down on one of the punching bags. Let me know when you're finished and we'll move on to the next thing!" Natsu instructed and waited for Lucy to get into a rhythm before going over to set up a punching bag.

Lucy watched in awe as he strung it up from the 20 foot ceiling with ease and began wailing on it as soon as it started swinging towards him. His rippling muscles flowed powerfully into each punch as he landed blow after blow with ease on the bag. She easily lost track of time watching him work the bag with all the grace of a predator catching its kill, and when she glanced down at the display of her treadmill, she realized that 45 minutes had passed.

"Hey Natsu, I'm done!" Lucy breathlessly exclaimed as she hopped of the treadmill and moved back to the fountain to get another drink of water.

"Awesome!" Natsu replied as he similarly went to get some water. "After a quick drink, we'll get into some free weights, do you core on the mats over there, and then end with the punching bag. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful," Lucy sarcastically replied as she followed Natsu to the long rack of dumbbells. "I can't wait…"

"Aw don't be like that Luce," Natsu said goodnaturedly as he picked up two 60 pound dumbbells. "Go ahead and pick out a pair that you think you can deal with for about 20 minutes." Lucy groaned and shuddered at the pain that was to come. She eyed a pair of pink five pounders that looked just about her speed.

"How cute," Natsu joked as he readied his weights.

"You'll see how cute I am when I land a fist of wrath on your face," Lucy retorted as she shifted the pink weights in her hands.

"That's the spirit Luce!" Natsu chuckled. "Now, we'll begin with a simple bicep curl…"

* * *

"I don't think I'm going to be able to move for the next week!" Lucy whined into her breakfast as she finally sat down for the first time in two hours.

"What happened to you?" a brunette with purple eyes clad in a bikini top and capris asked as she walked over and sat with Lucy, Levy, and Erza.

"I worked out with Natsu this morning… I wanted to improve on my hand to hand combat skills and he offered to help. I didn't think that it would be that intense starting out. I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met; what's your name?" Lucy asked as she eyed the brunette throwing back a large tankard filled with what looked suspiciously like ale…

"My name's Cana blondie. Man, I didn't think that the pyromaniac had it in him, but he sure moves fast! How far did you and my bro Natsu get? Did ya-"

"I'm pretty sure that was not what Lucy meant by hand to hand combat… Right Lu-chan?" Levy asked as she watched her friend turn a color red that rivaled Erza's hair.

"We definitely didn't do anything like that!" Lucy stammered as she tried desperately to maintain composure. "Natsu was just showing me the ropes-"

"Ooh! You like it when the man take charge do you?" Cana said mischievously and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"N-no! That's not what I meant! I only-"

"Relax! Relax Blondie!" the brunette coolly curtailed Lucy's defense with a coy smile. "It's ok being nervous when you're new to something…" Cana trailed off and Lucy had the sneaking suspicion that this topic was not going to be forgotten any time soon.

"So how're ya feeling Luce?" Natsu cheerily asked as he brought his breakfast over to the group of women to join them. Levy giggled as she watched the blonde's face turn from momentary relief to horror and embarrassment in mere moments.

"Yeah 'Luce,'" Cana wryly commented as she turned a smug smirk towards Lucy, "how are you feeling this fine morning?"

"I feel absolutely peachy," Lucy ground out and stuffed a fork full of omelet in her mouth. Natsu quickly glanced between the two women in confusion, but then shrugged it off as he sat down and started digging into his own food.

"Hey Lu-chan," Levy tried again to change the subject. "When we're finished with breakfast, do you want to go up to my room and start working on your magic skills?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Lucy smiled as she took a large gulp of water. "I'll go take a shower and then meet you at the door to your apartment."

"Ok!" Levy chirped as she finished the last bits of her pancakes and gathered her dishes. "I'm going to go ahead and start pulling book on the subject. See ya!"

The group watched as the bluenette bounced up the steps with the glee of a small child.

"That girl really loves her books," Lucy chuckled as Levy rounded the corner on the staircase.

"I hope that she's willing to compete with Natsu for your attention; it looks like the competition is going to be fierce," Cana blatantly stated as she took another deep swig from her tankard. As Lucy tried to defend herself once more, Natsu decided he'd been quiet for too long.

"So Luce, do you wanna be my partner?"

* * *

 **One more chappie officially in the books! Wooo! Are you a ninja like Lucy? I can tell you for sure that I'm not that skilled… I don't even know where that idea came from, but I stuck with it because I feel like Lucy would do something like that. Yeah? No? How about some appreciation for human anatomy? We all know Lucy has a deep respect for it! ;D**

 **Honorable mention to Animallover, fanficlove2014, cat. (sorry, the site doesn't like your name…), Yuyui Hime, and .3 for your awesome reviews! Thank you so much for your support and I appreciate all the comments, critiques, and praises that you've given me! You**

 **I'm going to try my best to update, but I don't know when it will end up happening. Thank you so much for reading my story and until the next installment, byebye! :D**


	9. Partners and Contracts

**So how's everybody doing today? Personally, I'm ready to go to sleep, but since when did life ask what I wanted? But never mind that! Everybody gets to read the next chappie of "Hey There!" That's a good compromise… right? Let's get started shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: If I had the money, it would be mine…**

* * *

Hey There… Ch. 9

Everyone at the table stared at the pinkette like he had grown a second head, causing the male to shift uncomfortably in his seat.

"What? I thought it was a reasonable question…" Natsu grumbled as he chomped down on another bite of his breakfast. Everyone, sans Natsu (well, he might've been looking discretely…), then shifted their attention to Lucy, who was still in shock.

"W-what are you guys looking at?" Lucy asked as she tried to act calm; it failed miserably.

"Oh, Lucy. Lucy," Cana murmured as she sidled up next to the blonde in a semi consoling manner. "We all know about your attraction towards him. Why not just go ahead and admit it!"

"WHAT?!" both Natsu and Lucy yelled at the same time. The rest of the table was highly entertained by the pair's flustered attempts to defend themselves and discount Cana's theory.

"Alright, alright!" Cana said smugly as she drank deeply from her tankard. "I'll let this slide for now. But, I'm going to want to know details on this at a later date Lucy. You can bet your boobies that I'll be coming after those answers sooner or later. I know where you live," Cana slyly stated and wiggled her eyebrows for added effect.

"Well, I think I need to go see what Levy's up to!" Lucy abruptly stated and stood up with her dishes in a rush. "She's probably wondering why I haven't come to meet her yet. I'll see you guys later!" As soon as Lucy started up the stairs, Natsu mumbled something about needing to feed his cat and made a swift retreat for the stairs as well.

"Cana why?" Mirajane whined as she appeared seemingly out of thin air. "We're not even 48 hours into this ordeal! You can't confront either of them about their feelings… yet…"

"Don't put all the blame on me!" Cana defended as she smacked the table. "I KNOW you want to know about their feelings for each other. You can't even lie to me; I saw your match-making face!" Mira simply pouted in response. "And what about you Erza? What are your thoughts on the matter?"

"Mmm? This cake is so delicious Mira! Did you try something different?" Both Mira and Cana sweat dropped.

"Okay, I think it's safe to say she was tuning us out," Mira replied hesitantly as she strode back to her bar. "Well I need to get back to work! I'll talk to you girls later."

"Why do I highly doubt she's actually going to work the bar?" Cana murmured to herself and took another large swig from her tankard.

"Seriously Cana. You need to try a piece of this cake; it's delicious! …But go get your own slice…"

* * *

"Levy-chan!" Lucy yelled as she pounded on her friend's apartment door. "I'm here! You need to let me in…" A few moments later, Lucy heard the door being unlocked and a tuft of blue hair stuck out with a smile on her face.

"Lu-chan! I've found some of my books on celestial spirit magic. Come in!" Levy chirped and tugged Lucy into the bluenette's book infested apartment. Lucy found a spot on the floor and Levy brought her two books with another pair of gale-force reading glasses before she nested into her couch with another pair of books.

"You have this many books on just celestial spirit magic?" Lucy inquired in wonder.

"I think this is all of them," Levy thought aloud as she put a tiny hand under her chin in contemplation. "I'll double check to make sure when we're finished today. But let's go ahead and get started! I think you're as curious as I am about knowing how this magic works." Lucy nodded in agreement and the pair started into their respective texts.

"Well I think I found something about 'making contracts' with my spirits," Lucy stated after about 15 minutes into their reading.

"'Making contracts?'"

"Yeah," Lucy said as she pushed up the red rimmed glasses on her nose. "Apparently, celestial spirit magic is all about the contracts you make with these spirits and calling upon them whenever they are free into this world from the spirit world… I guess it's a lot like trying to sync schedules about when you can or cannot use them… and apparently summoning them is different from making a contract with them… Like when Plue was here; he was summoned, but I don't have a contract with him yet. Speaking of which!" the blonde exclaimed as she sprung to her feet. "I need to go get that key! I'll be right back!"

Needing no further prompting, Lucy let herself out to go get her key. When she opened the door to her own apartment, she thought she heard a noise coming from her bedroom. _Please tell me that there aren't any Phantom people here again…_ Lucy thought to herself with dread as she cautiously cracked the door open to her bedroom.

"Mavis, Natsu!" an exasperated Lucy sighed as she walked over to a snoring Natsu on her bed and tried shaking him awake. "You scared me half to death! Why on earthland are you here?"

"Mmm?" a sleepy Natsu mumbled as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes. "Oh, hey Luce! I was waitin' for ya. You didn't answer my question in the hall, so I thought I'd follow up to see if you had an response." The blonde rubbed her temples to keep a headache from forming.

"Why would you want me to be your partner?" Lucy asked, thoroughly confused and failing to see any logic behind his question. "I literally found out I was a mage less than 24 hours ago and I have next to no combat training and you want me to be your partner? I feel like I'd just slow you down…"

"Nah!" Natsu cheerily replied, completely unfazed by the blonde's lack of confidence. "You seem like you've got a good head on your shoulders and with proper training, could be an awesome mage. I think that we'd be great partners because I tend to go rushing into things headlong, and that's not always the best solution. I've actually got some scars to prove it," Natsu chuckled wistfully and scratched the side of his face.

 _I've seen some of those scars…_ Lucy thought to herself and she mentally righted herself before she could start salivating all over again at the thought of his toned body…

"Hello? Earthland to Lucy?" Natsu inquired, waving a hand in front of her face. "You know, you can be a real weirdo sometimes."

"I'm not weird!" Lucy snapped defensively and she prayed that her cheeks would refrain from changing color. "I just think about a lot of things sometimes…"

"So, whadda ya say?"

Lucy looked at the pink haired male and cupped her chin thoughtfully. "Are you sure I wouldn't be too much of a burden on you? I feel like you'd be called in as part of a main attack force squad or something…"

"I do get called in as a part of the brute squad," Natsu laughed and gave a wide, ear-to-ear grin that showcased his canines. "I think you'd be a great person to watch my back. Please Luce? Please say you'll do it?" Natsu's face then melted into the most pitiful and altogether convincing puppy-dog eyed look that Lucy had ever seen. Lucy grimaced as she felt her resolve crumbling at an increasing rate…

"Oh, screw it. Mavis knows I'll regret this, but sure! I'll be your partner," Lucy sighed and watched as the pinkette's face lit up into one of the most genuinely ecstatic smiles that had ever graced the blonde's presence, causing her to flush slightly.

"Yosh!" Natsu yelled as he jumped off her bed and started dancing with glee around her room, reminding Lucy of a small child receiving a reward. "I'm all fired up! Luce, we gotta step up our training game if we wanna get you to see some action in the upcoming guild battle-"

"What?!" Lucy yelped in horror as she cut Natsu off. "I thought that what we did today was hard! And since when were we having a guild battle?"

"It's not official yet, but I'm pretty sure it's going to happen soon with all of the harassment Phantom Lord has been giving us. Don't worry about a thing Luce; I'm gonna make sure you're ready in time for that battle!"

"Okay, well I guess that we'll continue training in the mornings until you think I could try to spar with some of the other members of the guild…" Lucy sighed. "By the way, do you know of anybody in the guild that uses a whip? I'm going to need some practice so that I can add another dimension to my attacking style."

"Hmmm, you should either ask Bisca or Erza on that one. You could always look on youtube for the basics if all else fails…"

"True. Thanks a lot Natsu!" Lucy smiled and hugged the pinkette in gratitude before she realized what she was doing. Natsu tensed for a second, but then warmly returned her embrace. "Sorry!" Lucy exclaimed as she jumped away from Natsu. "I didn't mean that… I-"

"It's okay Luce," Natsu chuckled. "I think good friends can give each other hugs if they want."

"Y-you think I'm a good friend?" Lucy stammered in awe, pink once again returning to her cheeks.

"One of the best actually," Natsu stated as if he were commenting on the weather or something else completely mundane. "So here's to the start of an awesome partnership! Put 'er there Luce" Natsu said and stuck out a hand for a handshake. Lucy immediately took his hand and smiled as they shook hands.

"I'm looking forward to it!" Lucy said and turned to face her room in thought. "I need to find my key so I can get back to Levy… Oh my Mavis! I completely forgot about her!" Lucy gasped and started searching frantically for her silver key.

"Looking for this?" the pink haired male inquired with a smug smirk as he dangled the key in front of her face.

"Thanks!" Lucy said and snatched the key out of his hand. "I'm going to go back to Levy's; please don't stay in here by yourself.

"I was just waiting for you to return Luce. Why would I stay in an empty apartment that isn't mine? You're such a weirdo!" Lucy started to prepare a "Lucy Kick," but then decided that it wasn't worth it.

"Well I'll see you later then Natsu."

"See ya Luce!" Natsu waved before ducking out her bedroom window.

"Mavis," Lucy grumbled to herself as she shut the window and strode towards Levy's apartment. "Doesn't he know what a door is?"

Lucy was about to knock on the door when it opened and Levy herself bumped into her.

"Lucy!" Levy chirped as she backed up and let them both back into her apartment. "I was starting to worry that you lost the key or something. What happened?"

"Well," the blonde said as she shifted her feet, unsure of how the petite bluenette would take the turn of events. "When I walked into my apartment, Natsu was there, sleeping on my bed." Levy raised a curious eyebrow. "After I woke him up, he asked if I wanted to be his partner, since everyone in the guild has to start doing that now… I told him I would do it, then I got the key and came back here…" Lucy trailed off as she watched Levy's eyes become starry and a smile grow on her face.

"I knew it!" Levy exclaimed as she bounced up from her place on the couch. "I knew he was going to ask you!"

"Why do you say that?" Lucy asked, thoroughly puzzled.

"Let's just say it was a hunch," the bluenette replied with a mischievous smirk before turning serious once more. "Okay, so let's see if you can make a contract with a spirit!" Lucy immediately focused back on what she initially came to Levy's apartment for and tried to concentrate her magic.

"I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate!" Lucy recited and hoped that she remembered all the words of the initial summoning spell correctly. Moments later, with a doorbell ring and a flash of golden light, Plue stood on two wobbly paws, holding a golden hey.

"Pun-puun!" the little creature said and it was obvious that he was excited to be back in this realm.

"Okay Plue," Lucy said excitedly as she knelt down beside Plue. "I want to make a contract with you; can we begin?" The wobbly dog-like(?) creature nodded its head and they proceeded to iron out the details of when Lucy could and could not call upon him. When they were finished, Plue bounced around Lucy happily and then handed the key he held to the confused blonde.

"Who does this belong to?" Lucy asked. Plue simply pointed at her and then vanished in a flash of golden light.

"Lucy! That's a golden key!" Levy gasped as she came closer to examine it. "Those are really special keys that unlock gates to very powerful spirits. There are only 12 of those as opposed to the silver keys, where you can at least buy them in stores."

"It looks like the astrological symbol for Aquarius," Lucy breathed as she examined the key's beauty. "I think I'm going to need water," the blonde murmured and quickly ran to Levy's bathroom to start the water running in her tub.

"Why do you need water?" Levy asked with a puzzled expression. "I didn't read anything about special summoning criteria…"

"I don't know," Lucy shrugged as the tub filled with water. "I felt like it was something that I just had to do…" When the bathtub was filled, Lucy dipped the key into the water and repeated the initial incantation for crossing spirits into their realm.

The air all around the bathroom lit up in bright golden light and after the doorbell ring, a beautiful blue haired mermaid appeared, floating over the small body of water. Her initially peaceful face morphed into a scowl and she began to scold the pair of women gawking at her.

"What the hell were you thinking summoning me in a bathtub? I-" the mermaid cut off and a shocked expression formed on her face. "Layla? How can this be?"

"How do you know my mother?" Lucy gasped as she tried to retrieve her jaw from off the floor.

"She had a kid?" the mermaid murmured in disbelief as she continued staring mystified at Lucy.

"Um, I'm sorry to break this up, but I would like to form a contract with you… Aquarius?" Lucy finished her statement as a question, unsure of how to proceed. Aquarius' face immediately turned back into a scowl, making both Lucy and Levy flinch.

"Yeah? And where's my say in this?" Aquarius sniffed.

"You don't have to make a contract with me if you don't want to!" Lucy quickly interjected as she tried to look as apologetic as possible. "Plue just handed me your key, and I thought that-"

"Damn that stupid Nicola, mucking about in my affairs," Aquarius grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll form a contract with you, but you better not summon me for anything stupid or summon me from a bathtub EVER again. Are we clear?"

"Y-yes ma'am!" Lucy whimpered, but then shook her head and looked the mermaid square in the eyes. "Let's talk over the details then." After a bit of a debate, Lucy and Aquarius came to a consensus and bid each other farewell.

As the mermaid disappeared, Lucy could've sworn that she heard Aquarius say, "Looking forward to working with you Lucy…"

"Well that was exhausting!" Lucy sighed and went to go collapse on Levy's couch.

"That was really amazing!" Levy squeaked with joy as she drained the bathtub and followed Lucy into the living room. "I wonder if all golden spirits are like that," Levy mused as she watching Lucy groan.

"Mavis I hope not!" the blonde whined and covered her face with a pillow. "I don't know what I'll do with myself if they are…"

"Well I think that it's exciting that you've got a combat spirit now! All you have to do is practice and I'm sure that Aquarius will be more willing to help you!"

"I hope so," Lucy sighed as she sat up. "Otherwise, I'm in for a lot of trouble…"

* * *

 **We're almost to 10 chappies… Wow! Natsu and Lucy are partners now! *slow claps* Aaannnd, Lucy has two spirits! I know she's got a limited arsenal, but she's also a rookie wizard, so even if she had more keys, she wouldn't have the magical stamina to open that many gates at this point in time.**

 **Special thanks to the guest(s), artistofthemind, Cat, peasepaws, The 10 year old, Yuyui Hime, Anom, Dog's Paw Burning in Hot Ash, Starmaiden2892, Alyss Hatter, and fanficlove2014 for your absolutely AMAZING reviews! I appreciate every comment given! :D**

 **About the added content *cough* citrus *cough*, I'm going to call the companion story "How's It Going?" ...Just in case anyone wants to know… This story isn't going to make its debut for a bit, but I just wanted to let you know what was coming down the pike.**

 **I want to thank all my readers once again for sticking with me! I'm quite humbled that so many people are reading my story and I hope that everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow. Buh-bye! :D**


	10. Set Up for a Showdown

**Sorry this is a day late, but we have officially hit 10 chappies! Holy Mavis! That's awesome! I want to thank you, my readers, for sticking with me this far! So, without further delay, here's the next chappie of "Hey There!"**

* * *

Hey There… Ch. 10

The next three weeks went by without much incidence, unless you count the brawls Gray and Natsu got into and the fits Lucy gave Natsu about barging in on her or being her personal slave driver when they worked out together… Lucy had mildly improved her hand to hand combat skill, and her magical stamina was gradually improving thanks to her time spent with Levy at the guild pool.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy gasped as she sent Aquarius back into the spirit world and collapsed in an exhausted heap. "I think I'm done for today. Between you and Natsu, I barely have enough strength to make it through the day!"

"My dear Lucy," Cana purred as she appeared seemingly out of nowhere to throw an arm around the blonde wizard's shoulders. "When you say things like that, people might get the wrong idea about you and Natsu… What exactly are you doing that takes so much of your strength?"

"I'm just training with Natsu in the mornings!" Lucy defended as she fought (and failed) to keep a blush from rising onto her cheeks.

"From the looks of things, it seems like it's a little more than that," Cana smirked as she gave Lucy a good once-over. "Honestly I can't say I'm surprised. I figured Natsu would be holding out for a bombshell, but you just take it to the next level. You've got a good personality, a rare form of magic, and a body that most women would kill for."

"What're ya all talkin' about?" a familiar voice asked and the pinkette in question casually strolled into the pool area. "I thought I heard my name."

"Perfect timing Natsu! We were just discussing you and Lucy's-"

"Nothing!" Lucy bit out as she slapped a hand over the brunette's mouth. "We weren't talking about anything! Cana was just asking a question about my magic and I was answering her when you walked in!"

"If you say so," Natsu said with a raised eyebrow and crossed his arm over his well-muscled, bare chest. Lucy took the time to notice that he was wearing nothing but black swim trunks with a flame design on one of the pants legs and his scarf tied around his head. "Where's your new spirit Luce? I wanna fight it!"

"Sorry Natsu, I just sent her back to the spirit world for the day…"

"That's too bad," Natsu said as he moved closer to the blonde to stand right next to her. "Guess that means I'll have to take you on instead!" Natsu said mischievously while scooping up the tired celestial mage and tossing her into the pool.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried as her head broke the surface of the water. "Why would you do that?!"

"Because it looked fun," Natsu smirked and then cannon balled into the water right next to her. The forgotten brunette and bluenette exchanged knowing looks and giggled as they watched the pair play in the water.

"I think they like each other," Levy grinned.

"Mira is going to love this," Cana murmured as she whipped out her phone and started snapping pictures of the oblivious pair. "This'll be great blackmail…"

* * *

Lucy was taking a stroll down to the market with Natsu when she heard a shriek of terror.

"Oh my Mavis! Somebody call 911!" Lucy and Natsu exchanged looks of concern and then bolted off in the direction of the scream. They rounded a corner of a building to find a crowd that was progressively getting larger.

"I'm going to push to the front and see what's going on. Lucy, stay behind me just in case." Natsu murmured as he waded through the mass of people. When he pushed to the front, he felt his mouth go dry as he clenched his fists hard enough to make his knuckles turn white. He was about to turn around to keep Lucy from seeing but as he spun on his heel, he directly faced Lucy's stare of utter disbelief and horror.

"Levy-chan," Lucy choked out as her legs threatened to collapse underneath her weight. Just as she started to fall, Natsu threw an arm around her waist and stabilized her.

"Damn. They got Jet and Droy too…" the pinkette bit out as he got his cell out of his pocket to make a call. "Erza? Yeah, it's me. You and ice prick need to get your asses over here on the double. Phantom struck again and this time, it's not pretty. Tell Gramps too; he'll probably want to start planning our next move… Right, we're about two blocks from the small farmer's market on Main and 34th. Team Shadow Gear is strung up like a group of war criminals on display. Seriously, call in Wendy and Porlyusica from the hospital; they're going to need it." Natsu ended the call with an unsteady breath and shifted so that he could face Lucy. "I know you want to get them down, but we don't know what kind of injuries they have and if we jostle 'em too much, we might do more harm than good…"

"O-okay," Lucy shakily replied as she fought back tears. _Who could do that to sweet little Levy?_ She didn't know Jet or Droy that well, but from what she'd seen from them, they were kind and very protective of their blue haired teammate.

"C'mon, let's get you outta here," Natsu murmured and all but carried her from the scene. As they reached the back fringe of the crowd, Natsu spotted Erza and Gray sprinting towards them.

"I'm assuming they're in front of the crowd?" Gray panted as he tried to see over the sea of people.

"I think this calls for some crowd control," Erza growled, having arrived in a police uniform with a bullhorn. "Alright folks! Nothing to see here! Move away from the crime scene so that the medical teams can get through," Erza bellowed through the bullhorn as she started pushing people out of her way. Moments later, Lucy heard sirens approaching and could only guess that the ambulance had arrived to get the mutilated trio down.

"Everybody out of the way!" an older, pink haired woman yelled angrily as she started parting the crowd of people to get to the victims.

"Please move so that we can get the stretchers in!" Lucy heard a familiar young voice shout and saw Wendy coming through with the rest of the EMTs to take care of the situation.

"Wendy is an EMT?" Lucy breathed in awe as she saw the young bluenette spring into action with a practiced professional ease that had to have come with at least a few months of experience under her belt.

"Yeah, Porlyusica, the pink haired old woman that you saw breaking through the crowd first, is who is mentoring her and was also the one who got her the job. Wendy has really improved her skills since she has joined this team…" Natsu trailed off and looked down at a tear stained Lucy. "Let's get you back to the guild eh? I think we've spent enough time here as it is…" Without a word, Lucy jerkily bobbed her head to show her agreement and the two mages went back to the guild to decompress.

* * *

"How unmanly!" an enormous white haired brute known as Elfman roared as he punched a wall. "How dare they string up our comrades like they are criminals?! Phantom Lord has gone too far this time!"

There were furious shouts of agreement and the overall mood in the guild hall was a stifling angry one.

"Damn those Phantom losers for picking on Levy!" Cana grumbled as she slammed down a keg of booze. "After I finish this keg, I'm going to drink another barrel and go show those bastards what happens when they mess with Fairy Tail." Lucy sweat dropped at the brunette's last comment. It was weird to see Natsu and Gray agree on something, and if the murderous looks they were giving the table they were sitting at were any indication, they were itching for a beat down.

"My children!" Makarov yelled over the noise of the hall and everyone immediately fell silent, awaiting the verdict. "I think you all will agree with me when I say that this has gone far enough! I was willing to turn a blind eye to the various scuffles that most of you have had in the past few months, but when those bastards decided to ambush my children and hospitalize them, they awakened the sleeping dragon. It is time we mount a counter attack and I am currently forming a strategy. I will let you know through Mira where everyone will be stationed and how this will go down. I am tired of these Phantoms thinking that they can just march right in and take what is ours."

They shouts of agreement were deafening and Lucy grimly nodded. Even though she hadn't been a part of Fairy Tail for very long, she couldn't just stand by and watch as her friends were brutally injured. After the master had finished his speech, the guild members dispersed to prepare for battle, and Lucy was no exception.

"Hey Luce," Natsu spoke softly as he entered the blonde's bedroom through the window. Lucy didn't even bother to get mad about it because she was quite happy to see him. "I'm sorry that I dragged you into all this. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to leave-"

"Natsu, you don't have to apologize for anything," Lucy said as she curtailed Natsu's sentence. "I'm honestly really glad you brought me here and I can't think of a place that I'd rather be than right here at Fairy Tail." Lucy smiled before her face contorted into a frown. "I'm just angry that these Phantom Lord people think that it's okay to try to take out a business rival by stooping to ambushes and public humiliation; that's just not professional if they think that those methods are okay."

"Don't worry Luce; when the Magic Council gets wind of this, if there is a Phantom Lord guild left standing, they will answer legally for their actions. I just don't think that Fairy Tail will be as merciful. I know you probably don't feel comfortable about fighting on the front lines yet, but I'm gonna look out for ya Luce and you're going to watch my back. When we get a hold of those bastards, they're not going to know what hit them," Natsu said fiercely as he punched a flaming fist into his palm.

"I'm all fired up," Lucy joked and Natsu broke into a face-splitting grin and punched the air enthusiastically.

"That's the spirit Luce! Well, I'm going to go prep for our guild raid. You wanna meet in the guild hall in about two hours?"

"Sure," Lucy agreed and watched as the pink haired male leapt onto her window sill.

"See ya then Luce!" Natsu cheerily waved and then dropped down to his apartment window.

Lucy let out a deep breath as she flopped down onto her bed. _I've gotten into some pretty serious stuff_ Lucy thought to herself with a chuckle. _I wouldn't trade this experience for anything though…_ Lucy decided to close her eyes and rest up before it was time to meet up with Natsu.

* * *

The blonde slept soundly for about an hour until she was rudely awoken by having water thrown upon her. Lucy tried to shriek in protest, but realized that her entire body was trapped in a sphere of water.

"This is the woman we're looking for," a somber looking blue haired woman dressed in all blue murmured.

"C'est magnifique!" a man dressed in a brown suit with a monocle exclaimed in a heavy French accent. The man then slowly paced around the orb of water, watching Lucy struggle with muffled screams until she became unconscious from the lack of air. Witnessing this, the woman released the water surrounding the blonde and slung the unconscious woman over her shoulders.

"We've captured one Lucy Heartfilia as requested," the bluenette spoke into a hidden microphone.

"Oui!" the monocle man exclaimed again, this time into his own mic. "Proceeding to pick up. Juvia and I will meet up at the checkpoint." The intruders then jumped out of Lucy's window and off to the agreed upon place.

* * *

"What's taking Luce so long?" Natsu groaned as he rested his head on the table.

"Maybe she was doing something weird and lost track of time?" Happy suggested as he floated around his pink haired companion.

"She's really good about being on time though," Natsu muttered as he frowned at the table.

"Oi flame brain!" Gray shouted at Natsu as he walked towards the table the pinkette was sitting at. "Where's Lucy? I thought she'd be down here with you going over plans of attack…"

"That's what I thought too ice princess, but she's now 30 minutes late than what time we originally agreed upon meeting at down here…" Natsu trailed off in thought. He was about to comment further when he saw Mira running towards them.

"Natsu!" the white haired woman cried in a panic and Natsu bolted upright; not liking her tone at all.

"I can't find Lucy anywhere! I knocked on her door and she didn't answer; it's still locked, but I think something is wrong-"

The rest of Mirajane's concerns fell upon deaf ears as both Gray and Natsu sprinted up the stairs to Lucy's apartment. Gray pounded on the door and when neither of them heard any movement on the other side, Natsu kicked down the door and started searching the small apartment.

"Someone's been here," Natsu growled like an enraged animal as he picked up on the scent of two strangers.

"And from the looks of things, they weren't friendly," Gray grimly added as he pointed to the water all over Lucy's bedroom and the signs of struggle.

"That is it!" Natsu hissed in fury and briefly ignited and extinguished his fists. "I'm going to burn whoever thought they could take MY partner and get away with it. I'm going to start tracking the scent before the trail goes cold, and don't you DARE tell me otherwise Gray," Natsu spat as he surveyed the room once more. Gray stared at his comrade in shock; Natsu NEVER used his name unless he was deathly serious.

"Okay, but use your phone to keep us updated," the black haired male replied and watched as the livid fire mage leapt out of the bedroom window and onto the rooftop adjacent to the building. Gray sighed and ran a hand through his unkempt hair before he decided that he needed to tell the guild about what he and Natsu just discovered. "Mavis," Gray muttered under his breath, "I hope Phantom Lord is prepared to deal with an enraged dragon slayer…"

* * *

 **The 10** **th** **chappie is down! Just so you guys know, I'm not even close to being done with this story yet; we don't even know the real bad guy! Enter the Phantom Fairies! Woo! I personally hated it when Gajeel beat team Shadow Gear to a bloody pulp and then Juvia and Sol kidnapped Lucy, although I never disliked Juvia or Gajeel… Even when I was first introduced to them in this franchise, I didn't loathe them for what they did to poor Levy and Lucy. I guess I was just hoping that they were following orders that they couldn't refuse… And now Natsu is now beyond pissed! Stay tuned for an all-out fit of dragon rage!**

 **A very special thank you to Animallover, Cat, Alyss Hatter, and fanficlove2014 for your lovely reviews! Thank you so very much and you guys are extra awesome!**


	11. Knock Knock

**And here we are again with another chappie of "Hey There!" I nearly died of happiness when I got over 140 reviews for this story! …You guys… You're so awesome! Thank you so much and I hope you continue to enjoy this story and I'll so you on the other side!**

 **Disclaimer: I completely forgot to put one in the last chappie… Mashima-senpai don't hate me! I don't own your wonderful story of Fairy Tail or much of anything else for that matter…**

* * *

Hey There… Ch. 11

"Ugh, my head," Lucy mumbled as she stirred. "Where am I?"

"You are actually here in my humble guild, Phantom Lord Miss Heartfilia," a dark, menacing voice chuckled as a tall, black cloaked figure stepped into the light. Lucy tried to stand up, but realized that she was chained to the floor.

"How do you know my name?" Lucy demanded as she tried to keep herself calm.

"Oh, it's very simple," The voice continued and the masked figure revealed his face. "Guild masters tend to know a lot of information about the jobs given to them… You should probably ask your dear daddy when you are reunited with him."

"My father did this?" Lucy gaped at the man in horror. _It was my fault Levy was hurt?_

"But of course! He told me that he missed his little girl and that he wanted to see her again no matter the cost."

"But my father and his closest advisors are in jail… How could he orchestrate something like this?" Lucy asked in confusion. _There are VERY few ways of making a lot of money quickly that were legal… Unfortunately, Father didn't choose a legal route…_

"My dear, you seem to be behind on the times!" the man that Lucy guessed was the guild master smirked and whipped out a newspaper and showed the front page to her. "This ought to catch you up to speed."

Lucy skimmed the front page to find a flaming building and a headline that read, "Prison Break: Heartfilia is Loose!"

"I wonder how much he will pay to have his daughter, his heir, returned to him safe and sound?" the dark man hummed to himself.

"I'm not his heir!" Lucy spat venomously. "I want nothing to do with that filthy money; you can have every single jewel for all I care."

"Hmmm, I guess you don't realize your true value… Unless you're lying to me," the guild master murmured as a wicked grin grew on his face. "Gajeel! I think it's time we got some answers. Could you please come and _question_ our honored guest? It seems like she needs some help remembering some very important information. Oh! I almost forgot; keep her in one piece."

"Gihihi," a monster of a man chuckled as he stepped out of the shadows. The man had a long, untamed mane of ink colored hair and was studded all over his face and his arms. What made Lucy shudder, however, were his blood red eyes that seemed to search for any and all weaknesses. "I'll be sure to ask some good questions…"

* * *

"Dammit!" Natsu roared as he paced the rooftop once more in frustration; trying to see if there were any clues that would lead his nose back to her scent trail. The pinkette yanked his cell phone out of his pocket to call Erza to report the disappointing news.

"Did you find anything?"

"No," Natsu moaned as rounded the rooftop once more with agitation in every step. "I think they took to the air or something; the scent trail stops abruptly on a rooftop and I've already searched the ground around the building in a five block radius and there isn't even a hint of her or the people who took her…"

"Well, I'd like to tell you that we will send you back up, but with everyone gearing up for the raid, I'm afraid that no one can be spared," Erza coolly replied with a sigh.

"Can't you at least spare o-" Natsu cut off as he spied a small mark partially hidden by a crate. Natsu muttered curses under his breath as he went to go investigate.

"Natsu? Natsu! What did you find?" Erza asked, trying desperately to bring the dragon slayer's focus back to the conversation. When Natsu threw the crate behind him, he swore loudly.

"It was Phantom Lord," Natsu said quietly as he scanned the area for any more hidden guild flares. "I just found a maker with the guild crest and I know that only Phantom members could've seen the light it projected. Please tell me I can go thrash some idiots."

"We'll be right behind you. Have fun storming the castle," Erza said with barely contained rage and promptly disconnected the call.

"You're damn right I'm going to have fun," Natsu said as his pupils momentarily turned into slits and the magic flowing within him burned to be used. "I think it's about time I paid a visit to Jose…"

* * *

"Tell me what I want to know dammit!" the studded man growled as he turned his arms into iron rods and drilled them into her sides once more.

"I… have no idea… what you're talking about!" Lucy wheezed through clenched teeth and tried to pick herself up off the ground to be punched back down.

"I'm getting real tired of the run around blondie," he stated with barely concealed annoyance and kicked her into the wall, knocking the air out of her lungs. Lucy gasped for air as she tried to pull herself up into a sitting position, but her efforts were cut short by Gajeel yanking her up by her hair. "I want answers. Tell me where your old man hid his stash!"

"I don't know!" the blonde shouted at him before she was thrown onto the ground once more.

"I don't like that tone blondie," Gajeel spat as he stepped on her arm, breaking it. The man was mildly impressed that she didn't scream, or cry out in pain; the woman just leveled her gaze with his without an ounce of fear and shot him a death glare he was slightly intrigued by as well.

"You're going to be in a world of hurt when Fairy Tail comes for me," Lucy stated calmly, as if they were sitting down for an afternoon tea rather than being tortured.

"I'm not too concerned about any of those fairies," Gajeel scoffed as he kicked her in the side again. "Especially not the Salamander; that fire lizard is no match for my iron hide."

"See, that's where you're wrong," the celestial mage taunted between pained breaths. "Fairy Tail doesn't take too kindly to its members being kidnapped and tortured. They're going to be out for revenge. And by 'Salamander' you mean Natsu, then I feel sorry for you because you're not going to like when he finds out you were the one who tortured his partner."

"That wimp needs a partner?" Gajeel scoffed as he stepped back from the blonde and crossed his arms in front of his broad chest. "I think that I can take him on with one hand tied behind my back."

"I think you just signed a death warrant. He doesn't _need_ one. He _wanted_ one," Lucy replied as they continued their intimidation contest.

* * *

Phantom Lord's members who were at the main branch were having a lazy day relaxing in their guild hall until the front doors of the hall burst into flame and were kicked inward. As smoke began to fill the hall, a single hooded figure with a white scaly scarf stepped slowly through the fire, not caring that the flames licked at his seemingly untouched clothing.

"Now I'm only going to ask this once so listen up," the black hooded figure raised his head so that the entire guild could see the glowing red eyes sweeping across their ranks. "Where is my partner Lucy?" The thugs were silent; either by fear or lack of knowledge. "I guess I'm going to have to ask a little less nicely," the male growled and launched himself into a mass of enemies. There was no escape for any of the unfortunate lackeys as they were soundly pummeled into the floor.

"Fire dragon's iron fist! Winged slash! And talons!" Natsu roared as he took on 20 plus men at a time. As he worked his way down to the last members who were still conscious, he grabbed hold of two miscreants and snarled into their faces. "Where is the blonde woman you took? Answer me now!"

The poor idiots were blubbering and tripping over their sentences when a host of fairies made their entrance.

"Oi flame dick!" a mildly amused Gray called as he stepped over unconscious bodies. "Try to save a few for the rest of us! Did ya find Lucy?"

"I'm getting that information now," the pinkette ground out as he shook the two men in his clutches. "You heard me! Where is she?"

The two men wailed and one of them decided to speak. "S-she's not h-here! Jose moved her to headquarters right after she arrived here. Please don't kill me!" At this news, Natsu smashed the two whimpering males' heads together to render them unconscious.

"Who knew you could actually be serious," Gray joked and turned around to walk out of the guild.

"I'm getting impatient," Natsu hissed as he roared flame into the rafters of the guild in frustration and stomped out after the black haired male.

* * *

The entirety of the unharmed Fairy Tail guild stormed Phantom Lord headquarters without much of a plan.

"Okay, I'll enter from the back with about a quarter of the forces, Natsu and Gray, you lead the main attack force through the front. I want you two to split up once you get inside and see if either of you can find Lucy. Are we clear?"

"Aye sir!" They both yelled and led the charge into the front of the guild headquarters. They were instantly greeted by opposing mages and as they cleared a path, they noticed two staircases winding in different directions.

"Okay, I'll take the left staircase and you take the right. Whoever finds Lucy first will get her out of here and then come back into the fray. Sound good?" Gray asked as he made an enemy into a snowman.

The pinkette simply nodded in response and bolted towards the staircase on the right, blowing anyone who opposed him back with a fire dragon's roar. He took the stairs two and three at a time, not even slowing down to fight other enemies. _I have to find Lucy!_ Natsu frantically thought to himself as he scented the air for any whiff of the blonde and was rewarded with a strong trail leading up to one of the top floors.

As he neared the door closest to the stairway, he heard a gruff male voice yelling and Lucy's voice snapping right back at him. He chuckled a little as he saw, in his mind's eye, giving her captors a tongue lashing for having the gall to take her. Without any more prompting, Natsu took in a deep breath and set the door on fire before kicking it down.

Lucy openly stared at the figure who appeared in the smoke and flames with awe. The hooded figure then quickly surveyed the room and when the hood met Lucy's face, she could only see glowing red eyes that sent chills down her spine. _He looks like an enraged fire dragon with all of the smoke and flames surrounding him_ Lucy thought to herself as she struggled into a sitting position.

"You better have a good reason to explain why my partner looks like she does," the male growled as he lit himself entirely on fire and started walking slowly into the room.

"Gihi! I thought that I wasn't going to have any fun; I take it you're the Salamander this whore has been whining about?" Gajeel grinned as his skin turned into metal scales.

 _Oh my Mavis!_ Lucy's thoughts yelled at her as she watched the man before her take off his hooded black leather jacket to reveal a black and gold trimmed vest that oddly enough worked well with his pink hair, white scarf, some nice form fitting black leather pants and the black combat boots he was sporting. _I think this dragon can come save me any day…_ Lucy shook her head to clear it of her preposterous thoughts and watched the two men close in on each other.

"Luce, I'm going to need you to get as far away from here as possible," Natsu quietly spoke as he raised his fists. "I don't want you to be around to see this and possibly get caught up in it."

"Sweet gesture pinkie, but she's not going anywhere with a broken arm and leg," Gajeel smirked as he readied his own fists. Natsu cursed and sure enough when he quickly glanced back at Lucy, one of her legs was twisted in an unnatural way and her arms didn't look symmetrical.

"I've had enough of you," Natsu growled and then started a flying punch towards his opponent. "Fight me ya metal bastard!"

* * *

 **Lucy's dad is a thug! Woo! And Natsu is going guano crazy! Anyone get the reference? Eh? Eh? Well anyways, who's liking Natsu's fiery rampage? I'm hoping I'm doing justice to his burning hatred (pun intended) towards people who mess with his family; he has a nasty habit of setting himself on fire… And guess what we have to start off the next chappie? Natsu vs. Gajeel!**

 **A very special thank you to Animallover, Mia Anime, Iroshiya H, Meowy Meow, MyuPanChan, fanficlove2014, fanficaddict14, Dog's Paw Burning In Hot Ash, NaLu and InuKag, mindmybiz, and Cat for your truly amazing reviews! Thank you so very much for your critiques, comments, and encouragements!**

 **Thank you again for reading my story and until the next installment, buh-bye! :D**


	12. Who's There?

**Here we are once again! So who is ready for some fighting? I know I am! Thank you so much for supporting me thus far; I really appreciate it.**

 **Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine… If they were, there would be lots of cannons on my ships… They'd be so cannoned they would go to war…**

* * *

Hey There… Ch. 12

Gray cursed under his breath as he kept running into more Phantom grunts. _Damn, at this rate, I'll never make it to the top…_ The ice make wizard kept mowing down lower class mages until he reached a landing that had a skylight. He swore slightly again when he noticed that there didn't seem to be any holding cells or rooms to keep prisoners or hostages.

"Juvia is slightly impressed that you made it this far," a woman's voice said and the black haired male spun around to see a slender blue haired woman dressed in depressing shades of blue.

"Since you're so impressed, mind telling me where my comrade is? As soon as I find her, I'll be on my merry way," Gray said with a smirk.

"Juvia apologizes, but since you have come this far, Juvia is afraid that she can't let you leave…"

"So it's like that huh?" Gray sighed as he ran a quick hand through his hair. "I don't want to have to hurt a woman, but you leave me no choice. I don't discriminate who I fight against when a comrade's life could be at stake."

It was at this moment, Juvia knew that she couldn't win. _Juvia cannot fight him! He has too noble a cause…_ she woman thought to herself as a slight blush tinted her pale cheeks. "Well, Juvia wishes you a nice day. Have fun rescuing your comrade…" Juvia trailed off and spun on her heel to promptly walk away.

"Huh?" the ice make wizard eloquently stated as he tried to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. "So you're just going to walk away? Does Jose command any respect from you guys at all?"

"Juvia will not stand for her master to be insulted! Juvia will fight for her master's honor! Prepare yourself," the woman Gray guessed was named Juvia shouted and settled into a battle stance.

 _This woman is crazy_ Gray sweat dropped as he dropped into his own fighting stance. _Her emotions are so turbulent…_ "Ice make: lance!" Gray shouted as he projected icy spears at his opponent. He openly gaped when she just let the ice hit her, piercing through her like she was made of water…

"Nice try, but you cannot cut Juvia. Water nebula!" Juvia exclaimed and summoned streams of water out of thin air to throw at Gray.

Gray dodged and threw his hands together for another attack. "Ice make: geyser!" The wave of ice was handily avoided by the bluenette and she threw out her hands for her next spell.

"Water lock!" the water mage shouted and a sphere of water surrounded Gray, effectively trapping him.

 _This might actually be a good fight…_ Gray thought to himself and smirked as he froze over the attack and busted out of the frozen shell. _What does that flaming moron always say…?_ The ice make mage thought to himself as he landed on the floor with a soft thud, promptly shedding his shirt. _Oh yeah! I'm all fired up._

* * *

Erza was cutting down everyone who stood in her path, creating a path for those behind her when she saw two figures jump down from the balcony.

"I'm afraid we cannot allow you to advance any further," a man said with white and black hair pulled up into a ponytail with a black mark across his face.

"I see the end of the queen of fairies. How sad!" a large blindfolded man sobbed as he stepped up with his comrade.

"Oh?" Erza said as she stood up, eyebrow cocked. "Is that so? Well, the rest of you spread out and search for Lucy! I'll handle these two." The people following her nodded dumbly and scattered among the various halls and passageways.

"Not so fast-" the ponytailed man started but was abruptly cut off by a spear landing and quivering in the ground inches from where he stood.

"Your fight is with me," the redhead coolly stated as she requipped into her black wing armor. "I highly suggest that you pay attention to your opponent. Come at me!" Erza commanded and charged at the two men. The pair had no choice but to oblige and sprung at her with attacks prepared.

* * *

"Dammit! I'm lost again!" Elfman roared as he ran down spacious corridors in search of his lost guild mate.

"Non, non, non!" a male voice sighed and a green haired man dressed in a brown suit appeared out of the ground shaking his head. "Being lost is pas bien! Then again, unwelcome guests are pas bien… I think must show you to the exit."

"Hell no! Real men rescue their guild mates if they've been taken hostage!" Elfman yelled as he pounded his fists together. As his arms changed into his black bull form, he swung at the smaller man.

"Non, non, non! I'm afraid you're going to have to better than that if you want to land a hit on me," the man smugly stated as he prepared an attack of his own. "Roche concert!" the earth mage said and a barrage of rocks were sent flying towards Elfman, pelting him with the projectiles.

 _Guess this isn't going to be an easy match_ Elfman thought to himself as he gritted his teeth. _Well, here goes nothing…_

* * *

"You pack a pretty good punch there bolts for brains," Natsu smirked as he jumped away from the metal clad male.

"Not so bad yourself Salamander," Gajeel grinned wickedly as his arm turned into a humongous sword. "But I think it's time I got serious.'

"I completely agree," Natsu said as he ignited his fists once more and charged at the taller male. "Fire dragon's iron fist!"

"Iron dragon's sword!" the black haired dragon slayer yelled as he swung his arm/sword at a flying Natsu, causing them to collide in midair. Natsu then latched onto the sword with his burning hands, causing the metal to heat up rapidly. Gajeel cursed and flung Natsu off of his sword to revert it back into a smoldering hand. Natsu grinned at his opponent's scowl.

"C'mon! what'cha waitin' for?" Natsu taunted. "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!"

"I'm going to wipe that smirk off your face and onto the ground pinkie," Gajeel growled and leapt back at the fire dragon slayer with a series of iron hardened punches. Natsu easily kept up with him, trading blows equally, but took more damage due to his fists colliding into solid iron.

This went on for several minutes before the fighters broke apart, taking a breath before they hurled themselves at each other once more. _Natsu's keeping up with landing the same number of hits, but his aren't doing as much damage_ Lucy thought as she watched them exchange blows. _He's doing okay for right now, but what happens when he tires out?_ Lucy's thoughts became more concerned for her partner as doubt started niggling at the corner of her mind. _No! I have to have faith that he can make it out; I can't afford to think that he'll lose. I don't want to go back…_

* * *

 _These two wouldn't be so troublesome if I didn't have to worry about the man, Aria I think his name is, when he tries to deplete my magic energy_ Erza thought to herself as she vaulted up and over the man known as Totomaru as he was charging her with his sword. Erza requipped another blade into her hand and met his katana with two swords of her own. She sent the fire mage sprawling backwards just as Aria charged with another magic nullifying attack.

Dodging the spell, Erza requipped again into her heaven's wheel armor and sent out an arsenal of blades to attack both her opponents simultaneously. Totomaru was knocked out and pinned down while Aria took some damage, but was still able to fight.

"I'm afraid that I can't hold back anymore!" the wind mage cried as he whipped off his blindfold. Before he could finish a spell, Erza requipped into her black wing armor once more to land a knockout blow to the head.

"That was close," Erza sighed as she watched the wizard sink to his knees and face plant into the floor. "I'd like to keep my magical energy, thank you," Erza wryly commented and then rushed to where her fellow guild mates had run off to provide support.

* * *

"What are you babbling about woman?!" Gray yelled as he dodged another boiling stream of water from Juvia's fit of rage.

"How dare you betray Juvia's feelings?!" the water mage shrieked and summoned up a swirling vortex of water. "Water cyclone!"

"Agh!" Gray gasped out in pain as he was hit by the torrent of boiling water, blasting him up onto the roof. _My ice is melting too fast with all this boiling water! How the hell did she get so mad? All I said was that I needed to save Lucy!_ Gray threw up an ice shield to protect himself, from the next blast, but realized quickly that ice wasn't going to hold up well against hot water.

"I will make sure that you won't be able to hurt any woman ever again!" Juvia ground out as she prepared a spell. "Sierra!" the water mage shouted as she turned into water and launched herself along with a large wave of water at Gray.

Gray cursed under his breath as he was swept into the current of water. Just as he reached the edge of the roof, the ice wizard swam to the top of the current and started freezing the water to slide down the top of the ice. As he landed on the roof once more, he noticed that Juvia had turned back into her human form encased in ice. He quickly broke her out and watched as she collapsed to the rooftop beneath her, clearly exhausted.

"Huh, I didn't realize it was raining this entire time," Gray murmured as he held out his hands to catch the drops of rain as they fell.

 _Juvia knows what's coming next_ the bluenette grimaced as she hid her face in her hands to hide her shame. _Juvia won't ever be able to get rid of this rain…_ "Juvia will get rid of the rain," the water mage solemnly stated as she slowly picked herself up and walked towards the edge of the roof. She glanced down for a few seconds before she jumped.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Gray exclaimed as he dove to grab her hand before she fell too far. "You could've fallen to your death, dammit!"

"Juvia was trying to get rid of the rain," Juvia said simply, as if her life didn't matter. Pulling her up onto the rooftop and moving her away from the edge, Gray place his hands on her shoulders.

"Look at me," Gray softly commanded when the bluenette wouldn't meet his gaze. "Life is a very precious thing; you can't go waste it on a whim. Even though you were my opponent, I'm not comfortable watching anyone committing suicide. There are things you can live for." At his last comment, Juvia blinked furiously to keep the tears at bay.

"No one's ever said something like that to Juvia," the bluenette quietly said as her lips quivered ever so slightly. Gray was completely undone by Juvia's attitude; he never knew what to do with crying women.

"Ah dammit! Uh… I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry!" Gray panicked as he tried to get his brain to come up with a solution for her tears.

"It's okay," Juvia said with a small chuckle and gave Gray a smile that made his stomach twist for a brief moment. "Juvia's tears aren't tears of sadness. Juvia thanks you for your kind words…" Juvia trailed off as she slowly sank to her knees and into a sitting position. Gray tried not to seem frantic as he asked if she was okay and she just smiled more broadly in response.

Neither of them realized it, but when Juvia started smiling, the rain stopped and the clouds broke away from the sun.

"So this is a sunny day," the bluenette breathed in wonder as she let the sunlight hit her cheeks for the first time. "It's so beautiful. I've never… seen a… sunny… day," Juvia said slowly as she fell on her back with a smile gracing her lips.

"How have you never seen a sunny day?" Gray thought aloud in confusion as he watched her sleep for a few moments before scooping her up. _I need to find a better place for her to rest than up here on the roof. Maybe I can ask Gramps if he would mind her staying at the guild until she wakes up…_

* * *

"What's the matter Sir Elfman? I thought you were a man who did anything to protect his comrades," the earth mage known as Sol tsked as he sent Elfman flying with a blast of earth.

 _Damn, he's stronger than I thought_ Elfman said as he scrambled to find purchase on the ground before he hit the wall.

"Non, non, non! With an attitude like you have, you can never beat me! Is this the best you can do? What would your sisters say?" Sol shook his head in mock dismay as he prepared another attack.

 _How does he know about Lisanna?_ Elfman internally gasped as his opponent's last question rooted him in place. _It's true that I've never successfully done a full takeover, but what does this have to do with her?_

"Are you not attempting a full take over because of what happened the last time? Are you so afraid of failure that it paralyzes your growth as a wizard? As a man?" Sol haughtily spoke as he sent another wave of earth magic at Elfman, knocking him out of his stupor.

"Leave Lisanna out of this!" Elfman roared as he swept a beefy arm at Sol, but barely missed. The white haired male proceeded in a flurry of punches and kicks, but Sol dodged them all. _I've just about reached my limit and I can't even land a blow on him!_ Elfman thought as he tried another desperate swipe in the earth mage's direction.

"Non, non, non! It is impossible! You won't defeat me!" Sol sang as Elfman was winded with a stone punch to the face.

"It looks like you're not going to leave me much of a choice," the takeover mage muttered and jumped back into a stance. "Full body takeover: beast soul!"

Sol watched in amusement turned into horror when Elfman started transforming into the beast. Steam rose off of the takeover mage's body with a hiss and the low growl that reverberated through the hall sent chills down the earth mage's spine. The beast standing before Sol cracked his head from side to side and blinked slowly at him.

"I think that this was a simple misunderstanding monsieur!" the earth wizard quickly apologized and tried to look contrite as he subtly formed an attack. "Platre Sonata!" Sol shouted and grinned, thinking that he had finished the fight.

As the smoke cleared, however, the beast was still standing there unscathed and thoroughly unimpressed with the display of magic, much to the earth wizard's dismay. After the beast shook his head, he charged Sol and pounded him into the ground, effectively knocking him out in one shot.

The beast stared at the unconscious mage for a brief moment before dissolving into an exhausted Elfman. "I'm so glad that worked," Elfman sighed out in relief as he plopped down on the ground next to his former opponent. "I think I'm just going to rest here for a minute or two before jumping back into the fray. That's what a real man would do…"

* * *

Gajeel and Natsu were panting as they parted once more. The intense flurry of punches, kicks, swipes, and jabs were just too much for Lucy to keep up with. _Natsu looks really tired…_ As soon as she finished that thought, Gajeel took a step back to the metal wall, ripped a chunk out of it, and started chomping down on it.

"Hey! That's not fair! You can't start eating now; I'm hungry too!" Natsu pouted and crossed his arms over his chest while looking around the room for anything that had been caught on fire.

"'s not my fault that you can't get a decent meal," the iron dragon slayer spoke unfazed through crunches, shocking and disgusting Lucy. Gulping down the rest of the hunk of wall, Gajeel turned himself into iron again and launched himself at Natsu with renewed vigor.

Lucy watched with growing despair as Natsu was being overpowered due to his magic reserves running on fumes. _If Gajeel can eat iron and become reenergized, I bet if Natsu got some fire, he'd be in better shape!_ Lucy scanned the room for anything that could be used to make an explosion and stopped on a heating generator. _Perfect!_ Lucy thought as she started crawling towards the generator that was a few meters away from her.

"What's the matter Salamander?" the black haired mage gloated as he ground Natsu's face into the ground, causing it to crack underneath him. "I thought that you were a worthy playmate! I guess you can't do too much if you're hungry," Gajeel smirked and threw him across the room into a wall, effectively knocking the air out of the pinkette's lungs.

 _Yes!_ Lucy mentally exclaimed with glee when she reached the heater. She found the lever that adjusted the heat and maxed it out before she inching herself away. As soon as Lucy deemed herself far enough away for her own safety, she picked up and iron pipe with her non injured arm and yelled, "Natsu!" as she chucked the pipe at the heater with all her might.

The miniature explosion resulting from Lucy's efforts sparked a moderately sized fire that Natsu scrambled to inhale greedily.

"Thanks for the meal Luce," the fire wizard smirked as a gleam appeared in his obsidian colored eyes. "I'm all fired up now!" As Natsu was finishing his meal, the other dragon slayer prepared another attack to send at the recuperated pinkette.

"Iron dragon's roar!" Gajeel bellowed and a stream of iron poured from his mouth with incredible speed.

"Fire dragon's roar!" was Natsu's answer and the two breath attacks collided and made a small explosion by itself.

 _Wow_ breathed Lucy as she tried to keep herself as far away as possible from the two fighting males. _They really do look like two dueling dragons from this angle…_ The blonde watched blow after blow being delivered on both sides as the dragon slayers took a beating from each other.

Natsu started gaining the upper hand when he kept his limbs ignited as he punched and kicked Gajeel's iron hide until it broke off him in smoking chucks. Jumping back while cursing, the black haired male blasted another roar at the pinkette. The pinkette easily dodged and immersed himself in flames.

"I think it's about time I finished this," Natsu murmured as he crouched for his attack. "Dragon slayer's secret art: crimson lotus, fire dragon's fist!" he yelled and hit his opponent with a series of exploding attacks that threw Gajeel into the wall, rendering him unconscious.

"I got 'im!" the fire dragon slayer gasped in relief as he dropped flat onto his back for a breather. "Now for a quick break…"

* * *

"Jose! Show yourself you coward!" Makarov yelled as he broke down door after door searching for missing guild master. "I am growing impatient of your insolence. Come out so that I may punish you properly!"

"My, my Makarov," Jose said as he appeared from the shadows. "You seem to be a little impatient."

"I have no patience for anyone who harms my children," Makarov quietly stated as he readied up a powerful spell. "I will give you until the count of three to apologize for your actions."

"Are we really resorting to childish counting games Makarov?"

"One."

"I'm not sorry at all!" Jose hissed as his eyes started to glow a different color.

"Two."

"I will make you regret ever stepping foot in this building," Jose said as he powered up his own magical attack.

"Three," Makarov sighed as he brought his hands in front of him.

"Dark pulse!"

"Fairy law!"

A large explosion followed by a severe bright light occurred and as Makarov's spell activated, the dark magic spell was completely obliterated and the earth shook from the force of the spell. Everyone else that was still fighting had to stop for close to a minute because of the blinding light and when the spell was finished, all Phantom Lord members fell to their knees in shock.

"That should teach you to make light of Fairy Tail," Makarov sniffed as he spun on his heel and walked out of Phantom Lord's headquarters, leaving an incapacitated Jose smoking from the blast of magic.

* * *

"C'mon Luce," Natsu said as he struggled to stand. "I think it's time we head back to Fairy Tail."

"I'm ready to go home," Lucy murmured as she gave the pinkette a smile. Natsu then carefully scooped up the blonde mage, being mindful of her injuries and spun to face the black haired male waking from his last blow.

"Let's fight again sometime!" Natsu exclaimed cheerily and flashed an ear to ear grin at Gajeel. Gajeel just huffed at him and looked away. With that being said, Natsu walked out of the destroyed room and off in the direction of Magnolia.

* * *

 **So, what did everybody think? Natsu returns victorious with his one and only partner (besides Happy of course) and Fairy Tail lays the hurt on the rest of Phantom Lord. Yay for everyone getting a fight! I know I kinda changed around a match up or two, but it is an AU. I can have some liberties… right?**

 **Best regards to Animallover, peaspaws, fanficaddict14, Eddingsfan, kuuderegirl3, FANATIC-CHANGE, kippysaurus, Dog's Paw Burning In Hot Ash, Lillian99, NaLu and InuKag, TigerArrowgirl, Larissa, and Cat for your wonderful reviews! Thank you so very much and I hope that you guys and all my other readers continue to enjoy the story!**

 **To Animallover since I can't PM you: for his jacket, I was kinda thinking of a leather jacket that had buttons on the inside of the collar that the hood could be snapped on and off of in a given situation… Jose's cloak was a legitimate cloak. About Lucy being chained, I forgot to mention that her ankles were chained to the floor initially, but she had shackles on her hands throughout that ordeal and when she was being interrogated, she was released from the ones on the floor; I'll probably go back and edit that later… As for what she was being interrogated about, I left it kind of ambiguous on purpose because Lucy doesn't know what they want and Gajeel doesn't know either because Jose doesn't want to have to fight anyone off of what he wants from the Heartfilias… Gajeel just assumed it was money. On the pain and injuries aspect, I didn't want to be too descriptive because when I'm describing injuries; I could write novels about what you could see, smell, etc… I basically just don't know when to stop and since I moved the rating to "T", I didn't want to scar people that didn't want to be scarred… When Lucy was going to get patched up, I was planning on glossing over more specifics on what injuries and where. Does that answer a few of your questions? And thank you! I like people asking questions! It kinda acts as my beta.**

 **To TigerArrowgirl since I can't PM you: Thank you soooooo much for your review! Unfortunately, I'm going to try to stick with updating every 1st and 15th of the month. I want to try to have as much of a schedule for as long as possible… I hope you like what I have in store for this fiction :)**

 **To Larissa since I can't PM you: Thank you so much for your review! If it makes you feel any better, whenever I type out puns or dad jokes, I always giggle and laugh. I strive for looking for ways to insert really bad puns and dad jokes into my writing because stupid punny jokes give me life XD**

 **Sorry for the really long AN… Those of you who don't have ff accounts, you should get one! That way you can keep track of all your favorite stories and then message authors or your friends that are also on this site about stuff! It also makes it a lot easier to thank people personally for their reviews and then answer questions that people might have… But until next time, buh-bye! :D**


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